Chicago Bears: 3 takeaways from Roquan Smith’s first interview
Smith was in contact with teammates during holdout, had a playbook
During his session with the media on Tuesday, Smith also revealed that he was communicating with his teammates even though he wasn’t at camp. He also had a playbook and was able to study it along with watching film. Here’s Smith in his own words:
"Oh yeah, that was bit different [being away from teammates], but I texted with those guys a good bit here and there. Also, I had the playbook so it wasn’t as bad, so I could watch film and different things like that."
Smith actually had his Bears iPad playbook stolen from his car back in May when a thief broke in and took the iPad along with several jerseys and other items. Police in Georgia were able to recover most of the stolen items, but the playbook was never found. No worries, though, because the Bears were able to remotely wipe the iPad of any information. Ah, technology.
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As far as Smith is concerned now, he’s part of the team and will be a key component of the Bears upcoming season. He was excited to get to camp and be out on the field with his teammates:
"It was great just being back out here with my guys, and, uh, running around and just enjoying the fellowship. All the guys were happy to have me back, I was happy to see those guys as well."
Smith has limited time to mesh with his teammates before the season starts. The Bears have a preseason game coming up on Saturday against the Denver Broncos, and it’s not clear if Smith will play in that game. Nagy did confirm that Smith will participate in joint practices with the Broncos on Wednesday and Thursday.
It was a long and at time tense holdout between Smith and the Bears, but now it’s time for him and the rest of the defense to get to work. It will be worth keeping track of how quickly the 8th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft will progress in the coming weeks. Here’s hoping Smith can make an impact right away.