Five major takeaways from the Chicago Bears loss to the Browns

Decisions loom at key positions

One of the bigger position battles on the roster is at inside linebacker. Christian Jones, Jonathan Anderson, John Timu and Kelvin Sheppard are all fighting for one to two roster spots.

In my opinion, Christian Jones is a lock. He is a versatile player that can play inside or outside. He made plays against the Titans, last week, and tonight he showed off some coverage ability and nice tackles.

While John Timu had a tackle for loss and another nice tackle in space on a play action bootleg, he is limited in coverage, because he is not very fast. Against the Browns, Sheppard diagnosed a screen play to perfection and tackled the running back for a yardage loss. The decision by Pace should be a tough one.

Outside linebacker Isaiah Irving is an undrafted free agent out of San Jose State. He may be a little undersized at 6’3″, 241 pounds, but that did not stop him from accumulating two sacks in the game, including a forced fumble. He looks like a strong practice squad candidate.

At running back, Josh Rounds, Jeremy Langford and Benny Cunningham were not very impressive. None of them averaged more than 3.2 yards per carry on the night.

Langford will likely make the roster just because he is a former fourth round draft pick. Rounds or Cunningham may not make the roster, based on the fact that Pace may not want to keep four running backs on the 53-man roster. Rounds is a strong practice squad candidate.

The wide receiver position is a complete mystery after the Cameron Meredith injury. I suppose Gentry is a lock, due to his connection with Trubisky. Thompson may make it solely on his kick returning ability. Cruz left the game with an injury, which is unfortunate because he needed to impress in this game.

Next: Grading Bears' offense vs. Browns

I believe that Pace will be very busy looking at cuts from other teams. The Chicago Bears could certainly use some help at wide receiver. Pace was able to find LeBlanc last year after final cuts were made, so maybe he can find a receiver that can contribute successfully to the Chicago Bears in 2017 and beyond.