Postcard from Camp: Three big things we learned about the Bears in Bourbonnais

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — The Bears held their final practice of training camp at Olivet Nazarene University on Sunday, with some non-padded, lighter work putting an end to a lengthy stay down here off I-57. After 15 practices and two trips to Ohio, the Bears break camp having a better idea of what they can be in 2018 — but not having the complete picture yet. 

So the final postcard from Bourbonnais will look at the three most important things we learned about the Bears since players reported to camp on July 19:

1. Roquan Smith's absence is impacting his readiness for the regular season. 

Sunday’s practice made it official: The Bears’ first-round pick did not participate at all during training camp. Smith, his agents with CAA and the Bears have been locked in this stalemate for nearly four weeks and there haven’t been any signs of an end in sight. 

On Sunday, Nagy admitted that he thinks Smith’s absence will almost certainly limit what he can do in the thing the whole preseason is building toward: Sept. 9’s season-opening game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. 

“You’re playing at that position and there are a lot of calls that go on, very similar to a quarterback, there’s a lot going on,” Nagy said. “But I have full confidence in Vic (Fangio) and his staff that when he does get here, they’ll get him up to speed and whenever that is, we’ll see. But again, that’s why we all get paid as coaches is to try to help our players out as much as possible and that’s kind of where we’re at.”

In what’s been an otherwise positive camp, the impasse between Smith and the Bears has provided consistent jabs of negativity. When the Bears drafted the Georgia product back in April, the thought was — for arguably the first time in the Ryan Pace era — they took a guy who would be ready not only to start Week 1, but to be a key contributor from the start of a season (that's to say that Kevin White, Leonard Floyd and Mitch Trubisky were more long-term projections). The chances of Smith being that guy have dwindled by the day, to the point where the expectation should be for Nick Kwiatkoski to start next to Danny Trevathan in Green Bay barring something unexpected. 

And that’s disappointing for everyone involved in this standoff. It should be disappointing for Bears’ management that they can’t get a deal signed, for whatever reason it may be. It should be disappointing for the Bears’ coaches that the only major addition to this defense missed the entirety of training camp. It should be disappointing for Smith’s teammates that he missed the grind of camp they all had to go through. It should be disappointing for Smith that there’s an increasingly good chance he’ll primarily be on the sidelines for his first pro football game. And it should be disappointing for Smith’s representation that this holdout hasn’t produced the result they hope for yet, and now may cost their client a chance to play in Week 1. 

How this situation gets resolved is anyone’s guess. For Smith’s long-term career outlook, missing his first training camp probably won’t change anything — if he’s great, he’ll be great. But this messy situation needs to be resolved, because it’s already reached the point where it’s likely to impact not only the Bears’ first game of the year, but a game against, well, the Green Bay Packers. If the Bears win that game, it could set the tone for the 2018 season and Nagy’s tenure; a loss, with Smith either not playing or playing poorly, could be seen as more of the same for an organization that would then fall to 3-17 in their last 20 meetings with the Packers. 

2. The offense is a work in progress, but that’s okay. 

Trubisky had some good days and bad days in Bourbonnais, all of which were important to keep in perspective. A few good days didn’t mean the second-year quarterback all of a sudden was ready to run this offense in the regular season; a few bad days weren’t a sign the offense was destined to fail or that Pace whiffed on drafting him with the No. 2 pick in 2017. 

More than anything, training camp was about installing the offense and being aggressive while doing so. That led to some mistakes, both noticeable (like interceptions) and more hidden (like spitting out a play call but getting the “Z” and “Zebra” receivers mixed up). 

So the Bears break camp with their offense having a ways to go before it’s ready to be rolled out Week 1 in Green Bay. But Nagy and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich will move on from focusing on installing the offense to actual gameplanning in the coming weeks leading up to Aug. 25’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Expect to see a much better version of the offense that day than what showed up in Cincinnati last week, because coaches expect Trubisky to have “total command” of the offense by that point. 

“For a quarterback, you just want an immediate picture in your head of what's going on,” Helfrich said in late July. “One thing to think about, not seven. Right now, we're still at that stage where it’s, okay, who's at this position, what's my personnel group, what's the snap count and all the things that take place. It is truly a process right now whereas (when we’re done with installing the offense) that will be seamless.”

3. While the offense is a work in progress, the talent sure looks like it’s there. 

Anthony Miller had one of the best training camps of anyone down here in Bourbonnais, and while he’s not a finished product by any stretch he looks like a guy who can contribute in Week 1. Allen Robinson said his surgically-repaired knee feels “great,” and he’s in line to play in Saturday’s preseason game against the Denver Broncos after having a strong camp, too. 

Anecdotally, Trey Burton seemed to catch everything thrown at him, even on days when the guys around him were having trouble catching the ball. Adam Shaheen put some good things on tape not only in practices, but in last week’s preseason game against the Bengals. Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen have been all over the place in the best way possible. 

Jordan Howard’s hands looked better, though seeing him catch passes in live game action may be a better barometer. James Daniels did some good things after being moved to center, where he starred at Iowa, last week. Kyle Long was healthy. The list goes on. 

The point being: The Bears’ personnel on offense was largely overhauled in the offseason, and the difference in talent and skill between the group of guys who were here a year ago and this current group is about as obvious as water being wet. 

That doesn’t mean the Bears’ offense is definitely going to take off from being one of the worst in the league to being one of the best. But the pieces are there for a significant improvement; it’s on the coaching staff and, crucially, the quarterback to make sure that improvement happens. 

“We have to be able to have an identity on offense,” backup quarterback Chase Daniel sad. “Our defense knows what their identity is. They were top 10 in the league (last year). This is a new offense. We have to know what we do, how we do it and when to do it. That’s on the coaches. That’s on the players, especially. Just run it to the best of our ability whenever the play is called.”