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Bears vs. Browns Preseason Week 4: Preview, Live Stream and More

By Dustin Regan-Padilla

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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How and when to watch the Chicago Bears NFL preseason Week 4 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

While the starters do not typically play in the fourth preseason game, it is still a crucial game to Chicago Bears‘ general manager Ryan Pace and the rest of the coaching staff. In this game, they will determine who will make the final 53-man roster and the practice squad. With the massive number of injuries that the Chicago Bears have faced over the past two seasons, depth at all positions is crucial.

Execution with Mitch Trubisky

On Tuesday, Chicago Bears’ head coach John Fox stated that only two quarterbacks will play against the Cleveland Browns.

How much will Mitch Trubisky play? Well, that remains to be seen. Even though he will not be facing the Browns’ defensive starters, Trubisky will still be able to play in live game action, which is what he needs at this point in time. He is obviously extremely talented and the face of the franchise, however, there are still things that he needs to work on.

On this play, Trubisky is still aligning players at the line of scrimmage, while the play clock is winding down. You can hear offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains screaming “go, go Mitchell go! Go!” A timeout had to be called to avoid the delay of game penalty. You would prefer that they not have to burn timeouts on plays like these.

I thought it was a great decision to try and go for it on fourth down, on this play. It would give Trubisky practice in these situations. However, Trubisky was unable to get the play off and it cost the offense five yards, with the delay-of-game penalty.

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I almost thought that Trubisky did this on purpose and that they wanted the additional five yards to give punter Pat O’Donnell more room. However, judging by Loggains running toward the referee in an attempt to call a timeout, I realized that Trubisky was just unable to execute the play.

While I may be nit-picking, this is just something for Trubisky to work on against the Browns. He is a rookie quarterback that is not used to calling plays at the line of scrimmage. At the University of North Carolina, he would just look to the sideline, where his coaches would call the play.

There is definitely a learning curve at the NFL level. As I said earlier, Trubisky is immensely talented and I believe that he can be a great quarterback, but practice makes perfect and he will get that practice against the Browns on Thursday night.

Uncertainty at the wide receiver position

Tanner Gentry, Josh Bellamy, Deonte Thompson, Titus Davis, Daniel Braverman and Victor Cruz will all be fighting for a few roster spots on the 53-man roster and on the practice squad. It’s even possible that Ryan Pace claims receivers on other teams when rosters get trimmed, so this list could be even shorter this weekend.

Victor Cruz Chicago Bears
(Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

I would like to see Cruz take a stranglehold on one of the open receiver positions. He is a veteran receiver that has won a Super Bowl, and I feel like he could provide leadership to the team. However, he needs to catch the football when it is thrown to him, in order to make that happen.

I feel like Tanner Gentry has already made the 53-man roster, but a strong showing against the Browns will only help his chances. Who will step up from the other receivers? That remains to be seen.

Position battles on the defense

There are a few position battles on defense to keep an eye on: Inside linebacker, safety and corner.

The locks at inside linebacker include Danny Trevathan, Jerrell Freeman and Nick Kwiatkoski. Behind them are John Timu, Jonathan Anderson, Christian Jones and Kelvin Sheppard, who was just signed by the Chicago Bears on August 18th.  I believe that those four players are fighting for one to two roster spots. In my opinion, Christian Jones should be the favorite, not only because of his ability to play inside and outside but also because of his performance.

At the safety position, three players are locks: Quintin Demps, Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson. This leaves Chris Prosinski, Deon Bush, Deiondre’ Hall, DeAndre Houston-Carson and Harold Jones-Quartey fighting for a limited amount of spots.

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I have no idea how many safeties the coaches will want to carry on the 53-man roster, so it is hard to say who will make it, as none of them have really stood out from the others. Hall may make the roster just because he has experience playing cornerback, and versatility helps when rosters are being trimmed.

At cornerback, Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, Bryce Callahan, Kyle Fuller and Cre’Von LeBlanc all appear safe. This leaves Johnthan Banks, B.W. Webb, and Sherrick McManis all, likely, fighting for one roster spot.

Banks has been hurt, so I doubt he makes the team. Webb did intercept a pass against the Arizona Cardinals in the second week of the preseason but has left me scratching my head for all of the other games, so his spot is likely in jeopardy. In my opinion, McManis will likely make the team. While he is not very impressive at corner, he is a special teams stalwart.

Game Details

Date: Thursday, August 31st, 2017
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Venue: Soldier Field
TV Channel: FOX 32 Chicago
Live Stream: NFL Game Pass

Next: Bears' players to watch against the Browns

This is the last preseason game before the Chicago Bears will take on the Atlanta Falcons at Soldier Field on September 10th. Chicago will have a chance to finish the preseason with a 3-1 record if they beat the Browns. It certainly would show progress from last year’s preseason in which they finished with a record of 1-3 (with their only win coming against the Browns). Important questions will be answered, so tune in live on Thursday night.

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