Kevin Fishbain talks Bears' bad 2-minute drill in practice with Bengals
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Who is Kevin Fishbain and what is his role on The Athletic?
Kevin Fishbane, Bears beat rider for the athletic. My question is very simple. Do you believe that the Bears can be better at pass rush than they were a year ago based on what has transpired this offseason?
The easy answer, Marshall, is it's hard for them to be worse. Kevin Fishbane talking bears. Matt Iber Plus, George McCasky, Ryan Poles, Kevin Fishbane. On Chicago Sports Radio, 1043 the score.
We welcome Kevin Fishbane to our show. He is the senior writer at the Athletic covering the Bears. He is the host of Breaking In with Kevin Fishbane, a sports media podcast. You can follow Kevin on X at K Fishbane on Instagram where he posts videos, pictures of what he's doing. He is at Kevin Fishbane and he was at the joint practice in Cincinnati yesterday. Kevin, how are you?
I'm good and happy Friday, guys.
Happy Friday to you. He also joins us on Twitch, twitch dot TV slash the score Chicago. I think we're still in the the mode, Kevin, Marshall and I of of asking the question we did in our ten o'clock segment. Who we can expect to see out there. You know, Ben Johnson talked about how he was gonna make a decision based on the joint practices yesterday as to what to do Saturday. And I I don't necessarily know that we're much closer to answers. What do you think?
Yeah, I I heard you guys discussing that and you know, z and you mentioned that Zack Taylor said his starters will not play, which I think is a decent indication um that the Bears will probably do the same. Uh like I I don't I I think that they got a lot a lot of good work from Caleb Williams. Now it's interesting, right? Because it's the question of did you get good work or just work, right? 'Cause the as you guys read, the Bears struggled, uh the offense struggled the the End of practice yesterday, especially in the two-minute drill. So, do you see that and think, you know, shoot, we need to give these guys uh uh uh some game, real game reps. But if they did, they're going against the Bengals backup.
So is that how valuable is that gonna be? So my inclination is that the starters still don't play um based on just what we know about Ben Johnson and and how much they value what they did yesterday. Remember, they'll be doing this again next week in Nashville against the Titans, so they'll get some more meaningful reps against another team. To me, the biggest question is if we think the starters are not gonna be out there, what do you do with Braxton Jones?
Will the Bears’ pass rush be better this year after the offseason moves?
Right. Right. Because you could sit there and say, hey, he needs reps, he needs game reps, he needs to show us that he can solidify this position. On the flip side, you don't want him to get hurt. So I I I think that's gonna be a really fascinating thing to watch on Saturday night is w is the decision with him. Other things, you know, you could see Dylan Thieneman maybe gain a series or two. maybe some of the newer guys on defense like a Neville Gallimore or Devin Bush just to continue to get them, you know, in sync with what Dennis Allen wants. But yeah, I I would I would not be surprised if most of the starters um sit out. But again, if Ben was so unhappy with how practice ended that he's like, you know what, offense, I need a series from you, then he could do that as well.
It it's crazy, Kevin, because we could be looking at this game depending on what Ben decides and be like, Oh, but look who was playing left tackle in this game and understand that might be an indication of who's not being considered to be the first string left tackle when the season starts.
Yeah, I mean, look, if if Braxton sits, I think that tells you obviously that he's he's gonna he's they feel really good about what he did yesterday, where he's at health-wise, and and they want to kind of protect him. And then the other question is then what do they do with Kranamagaji and Jedrick Wills? Um, how many reps are they gonna get at left or right? You know, Ben said last week they gotta figure out which of those guys, how they can do his swing tackles, how could they do on the right side? You know, the thing with Theo Benedict is like to me, he's always been on the fifty-three.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Kevin Fishbain and what is his role on The Athletic?
0:06–2:24
2
Will the Bears’ pass rush be better this year after the offseason moves?
2:24–5:01
3
What did the joint Bears‑Bengals practice reveal about the Bears’ two‑minute drill?
5:01–7:44
4
Are the Bears likely to keep their starters out of preseason games?
7:44–10:26
5
How are the Bears evaluating the offensive line spots at left and right tackle?
10:26–12:16
6
Who could fill the rookie slot‑corner role and what does that mean for the defense?
12:16–15:19
7
Is Cam Lewis an underrated safety and how might he impact the Bears’ secondary?
15:19–17:49
8
How many front‑four positions are still up for grabs and what are the odds of current players keeping them?
17:49–19:27
Speakers
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