Chicago Bears: 5 players whose stock rose after preseason Game 1
By Ryan Heckman
Chicago Bears whose stock rose in win over Miami: OLB Robert Quinn
Maybe the biggest surprise on defense came from veteran outside linebacker Robert Quinn. Of course, last season was rough for Quinn after he signed a huge contract with Chicago. He hardly made an impact as evidenced by his career-low 2.0 sacks over the course of the 2020 season. But, as we’ve heard, Quinn is putting that season behind him.
If you simply checked the box score from this game against Miami, you would have thought Quinn was again absent. However, that was far from the case. Quinn didn’t play a lot, but over the course of the first series he showed plenty to be excited about.
On one particular play early in the game, Quinn was double-teamed and still pushed both opposing offensive linemen back into quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The pressure on that play forced Tagovailoa to get rid of the ball much quicker than he had planned.
The very next time Tagovailoa dropped back to pass and was under duress, it was Quinn who was in on the pressure. It was blatantly clear that Quinn was healthy and strong — finally. The Bears need to see that type of player in 2021, not just because they invested big money into him, but because if Quinn is effective, it’ll make Khalil Mack that more of a factor.