It was a long day Thursday as the Bears had to postpone practice for the alleged shooting on the nearby Clark Kerr Campus. Eventually when the campus-wide lockdown was over, the team hit the practice field in the late afternoon with a bit of a revised practice plan.
The Bears worked in "spider" pads so there wasn't much contact on Day 7 of training camp, and it was generally a shorter and lighter practice overall. There was just one full-speed team period Thursday, and much of the practice was focused on fundamentals and individual work.
Here is a rundown of what I observed Thursday ahead of this morning's practice as the Bears get back to work on Day 8 today.
Notes and observations
- The Bears continue to work through several injuries (most don't appear to be serious) across the board, and now the defensive back unit is the one that has been hit pretty hard. What it meant Thursday was that Ryan Yaites was mostly not coming off the field during any team work. He stepped in with the first unit for the first time in camp and held his own as he continues to progress after making the move over from LSU.
- Most of the action Thursday came during the 7-on-7 period early in practice as the staff put the team in red zone situations throughout that segment of practice. The end result was five touchdowns for the offense during that period with Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers throwing two of them apiece while CJ Harris tacked on another after linking up with Isaac Torres late in the period as the third group went to work. Mendoza found Kyion Grayes and Mavin Anderson, both of whom worked with the first unit Thursday, for his touchdowns while Rogers connected with Cole Boscia and Anderson for his touchdown plays.
- Also in that 7-on-7 period there were a couple nice plays for the defense with inside linebacker Aaron Hampton and cornerback Collin Gamble both coming up with pass breakups. Hampton stepped in front of a ball intended for tight end J.T. Byrne while Gamble knocked down a ball from Mendoza that was intended for Mason Starling.
- The full-speed team period brought some more positive plays for the defense as things opened up with a batted pass for inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan working against the first unit and Rogers. Buchanan has made a habit of getting into the backfield on similar looking plays throughout camp, which is a positive sign for the defense.
Additionally, Cheikhsaliou Fall has started to make some more noise in recent practices and he also had a batted pass working against Mendoza as a member of the second unit at outside linebacker. The Eastern Kentucky transfer worked opposite Ryan McCulloch with the second-team defense on Thursday.
Post-practice interviews
Practice 7 clips
