Chicago Bears: 5 must-know facts regarding Roquan Smith’s holdout

Smith will earn his role

If and when the holdout concludes, one thing we know for certain is that Nick Kwiatkoski has earned his right to start in Smith’s place — for the time being.

Kwiatkoski has had a very strong camp and, even without a holdout, nothing was ever going to be handed to Smith. Back in the spring, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio noted that Smith would earn his role, period. A lot of times you would consider something like that to be “coach speak,” but Fangio doesn’t like to mince words. He’s a pretty straight forward communicator.

Now that Smith has missed his entire first NFL training camp with the Bears, the likelihood of Kwiatkoski starting in the wake of his return is even higher. It is going to take some time — maybe a few weeks — before Smith gets his shot as the starter. My guess is that Smith would need to practice for two or three weeks before getting the nod.

Without Smith, the Bears might not be in the worst shape. Kwiatkoski has proven he is worthy of starting. In fact, when his rookie deal is finally up, I would not be shocked to see another team sign him to be a starter. The Bears likely won’t have him beyond that deal, unless they’re wanting to pay up for a backup.