The Bears selected tight end Evan Rodriguez in the fourth-round out of Temple. He has shown his athleticism already by lining up at WR, TE, FB and H-back so far in training camp. He could earn playing time in some packages dialed up by Mike Tice this season.
I was pretty confident out there, Rodriguez said via ESPNChicago.com. I’ve been doing this since I was a baby. But minicamp pretty much set the bar for me. It basically got me in tune. I knew the expectations coming into training camp from minicamp.
DE Corey Wootton has only appeared in 13 games making nine tackles in one sack in two seasons with the Bears. He needs to perform at a high level in training camp to earn a spot in the rotation at defensive end.
I feel good, I feel like I definitely have my burst back, Wootton said via ESPNChicago.com. Last season was tough for me coming of out training camp feeling good then unfortunately the knee injury slowed me down and I didn’t get that burst back that I had in training camp. I feel like I have it back.
Head coach Lovie Smith talked briefly about some of third and fourth stringers getting a chance today at practice.
There’s a lot of different positions you’re trying to get a look at, Smith said via Chicagotribune.com. And for us, we have an idea about what the top part of our roster will look like. But you want to be able to see some of the down-the-line guys. A lot of times, you have to wait until an actual preseason game. So, (it was a chance to) get little bit of live work for some of the younger players to get an opportunity to prove what they can do.
Rookie defensive end Shea McClellin had a very good day in the pads on Saturday, but today was a different story. He reportedly struggled beating off tackles Chris Williams, J’Marcus Webb, James Brown and tight end Matt Spaeth.
Today my pass rushing wasn’t very good, so I was kind of disappointed, McClellin said via CSNChicago.com. I’m pretty hard on myself, so I’ve got to do better than that.
The Bears returned to the practice field in Bourbannais on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m, while tomorrow will be a day off for the team.
Here is the complete schedule for Bears’ training camp.
Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.
