Roquan Smith was expected to play in the Bears’ final preseason game on Saturday night, but when it came time for kickoff Smith was on the sidelines in street clothes. According to Matt Eberflus, Smith felt “tightness” as he went through pregame warmups. Eberflus wouldn’t specify whether Smith felt that tightness in his legs, back, or wallet, so we don’t know exactly what kept the linebacker from making his preseason debut. Regardless, Eberflus didn’t seem too worried about Smith missing the entire preseason, even though he’s expected to play a key role in his defense.
“He’s played a lot of football,” said Eberflus. “This guy’s a good player, a real good player, and he’s played a lot of football. He’s got a lot of snaps under his belt.”
Eberflus compared Smith to Robert Quinn, in the sense that he believes each can play well in the regular season without extensive preseason work. That’s probably not the most fair comparison considering Quinn is entering his 11th NFL season while Smith is entering year five. Further, Quinn has extensive experience playing defensive end in a 4-3 scheme, while playing weakside linebacker in the NFL will be new to Smith. But Smith has been active in meetings by all accounts, and does have the raw talent to succeed with less of a ramp up time. He made an immediate impact in practice, when he finally rejoined practice, too.
Eberflus has also reiterated that he values practice time, just like he values preseason time. Although the preseason is done, the Bears still have two weeks until their regular season opener on Sept. 11. Smith and Quinn can each make good use of that time to better prepare for when the lights come on for real.
“They’ll be ready to go,” Eberflus said.