The Chicago Bears knew that depth would be a huge part of their success on offense this year, especially up front. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for it to be tested. After only one week, they lost veteran guard Ryan Bates to Injured Reserve. He will spend the next month recovering from shoulder and elbow problems. That leaves the starting job squarely in the hands of Nate Davis, which wasn’t something people wanted given his health and consistency issues. Unfortunately, the alternatives aren’t there.
Bates was their best option, and he’s out. Bill Murray has no starting experience, and Matt Pryor has always been more of a backup. There are no alternatives. At least, that is what most people think. Former scouting director Greg Gabriel believes there could be one alternative worth noting.
Bill Murray had a strong pre-season but was not active last week. Neither was rookie Kiran Amegadjie. While Amegadjie is listed as a tackle, he could very well play guard. The question with him is if he is ready to play after missing all of the pre-season recovering from a quadricep surgery. We won’t know the answer to that until 90 minutes before kickoff.
The Bears’ third-round pick this year missed most of training camp with a quad injury. He returned to the field on August 22nd, so he’s been practicing for a solid three weeks. If his conditioning is where it needs to be, the coaching staff must decide if he’s ready for live reps.
Ryan Bates’ loss won’t be addressed right away.
Getting Amegadjie some reps would be great. The Bears have high expectations for him. He’s big, powerful, long, and a great athlete for his size. They feel all he needs is to work on his fundamentals and experience against top competition. However, throwing him into the mix on the road in a hostile Houston stadium feels like a bad idea. He isn’t ready for the noise and complex pass rush packages the Texans are likely to throw Chicago’s way on Sunday night. It would be much more advisable to wait for the next home game.
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Of course, the situation would change if Davis got hurt as well. That might force the Bears into a tough decision. Do they play it safe with somebody like Pryor, who at least has some experience, or do they gamble on the upside of Amegadjie? They’ve not minded taking risks on rookies before. Ask Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright. If they think the kid is ready for work, give him a shot. The odds of him being worse than the other options with Ryan Bates out feel unlikely.
Good one Scooby. You know much. Hopefully TGena is too young to know about him. How about Fester? The movie last night: The Legend(s) of Witches/Witchcraft? It originally was X-rated. Now that’s what I call late ’60-style. Put it in between Rosemary’s Baby and A Clockwork Orange with Iggy Pop/Stooges, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, and Arthur Brown, as well as Sayers, Gordon, and Butkus.
Not to be a know it all, Dr. S, but I think you mean Festus.
@TGena You are Faustus and I am merely the willing, deceptively, frayed and decayed messenger/advocate willing to be sacrificed to the Bears’ fanatics, for thee. Check out a 1970 film I watched last night for the first time, Legends of Witchcraft, a British docu-drama. It has a 1971 sequel too about secret rites.
@PoochPest Sex and fear sell. But you might have to still use a key word or two to get attention. Decades before the same named films, I used sinister and insidious to catch the attention of my targeted audiences ranging from commercial advertising including in movie posters to intelligence/military handbills distributed as warnings or propaganda, globally. The media has always done so since at least the days of Jack the Ripper and the Yellow Press. Perhaps our Sports Mockery is the new spinoff of FOX NEWS/SPORTS. At the minimum, it should prepare us for tonight’s game and perhaps, even, WWIII.
@jmscooby
It’s funny how the writer thinks and writes. FEAR DRIVES EVERY WRITTEN PIECE. We live in a time in which half the people who open their mouths or writes something on social media, is either fearful or trying to manufacture fear in everyone else.
The cats and dogs rest their case.