The 3-2 Chicago Bears will play the 1-4 Jacksonville Jaguars at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a Week 6 matchup. Here’s what you need to know before kickoff (8:30 a.m., NFL Network and Fox-32).
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Injury news — plus our Week 6 predictions
The Bears secondary is suddenly in a challenging spot with cornerback Tyrique Stevenson now doubtful to play after suffering a calf injury during Thursday’s practice.
“It was just a plant, point and drive (situation),” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “And he felt something in his calf.”
The Bears were already without starting safety Jaquan Brisker, who didn’t travel to London after being placed in concussion protocol Monday. The team’s No. 4 cornerback, Terell Smith, also remains back in Chicago with a hip issue.
That likely means that both Elijah Hicks and Jaylon Jones will be thrust into starting roles against the Jaguars in place of Brisker and Stevenson, respectively.
- The Caleb Williams File: Why a big passing day could be on tap for the Bears QB in Week 6
- Tracking Caleb Williams: How the Bears QB is performing in his rookie season
What we’ve seen — and heard — in England
The little brother has piped up of late, and from the vantage point of DJ Moore, it’s all part of the maturation process for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
The veteran wide receiver made that reference on Wednesday afternoon. The Bears are feeling pretty good about how things are developing for Williams. His passer rating has improved in each game since Week 2 and he’s played turnover-free ball the last two weeks. Now, the Bears prepare to face a Jacksonville defense that is last in the league in pass defense, allowing an average of 287.8 passing yards per game.
“It’s amazing,” Moore said. “He’s taken those strides that he needs to. He’s been bossy lately, telling us that we need to be in on the details. We really do for him to be the best player he needs to be.”
The 22-year-old rookie is bossy?
- What we heard from Bears Chairman George McCaskey, including confidence in Kevin Warren and Caleb Williams’ ‘irrepressible spirit’
- Bears remain focused on a new downtown stadium, Kevin Warren says, despite lack of traction for public financing
- 3 things we learned from the Bears in England, including offensive line depth
‘It’s planes, trains, automobiles — all that stuff’
Coach Matt Eberflus and his staff determined a Monday night departure to London would be best for the players and coaches, allowing them ample time to adjust to the six-hour time difference. Eberflus said he went to Italy over the summer and found out how difficult it can be to get over jet lag.
“Just to get over there and get our clocks right,” Eberflus said. “That’s the big science part of it.”
Eberflus’ weeklong schedule is a change from what the Bears did in 2019 under former coach Matt Nagy for a Sunday night game against the then-Oakland Raiders. Those Bears took a Thursday night flight that arrived Friday morning and had one practice in London on Friday. The Bears lost 24-21 behind quarterback Chase Daniel.
‘How often does one person get to put a dent in the football universe like he has?’
Standing on the sideline at the 5-yard line with his back to the field, Nathan Chapman could boomerang kick a football over his head and — get this — through the uprights at the Packers practice fields. John Bonamego, the Packers special teams coordinator at the time, swears it happened. He witnessed it. With amazement.
The Packers wound up releasing 28-year-old former Australian rules football player after the preseason. In the next two years, Chapman had a tryout with the Bears during rookie minicamp in 2005 and a workout for the Bengals. No offers materialized.
While Chapman ran out of resources, he wasn’t short on ideas. He knew guys who could adapt to punting. He had an inkling of what the NFL was seeking and figured he could train them. He asked Bonamego and John Dorsey, then the Packers college scouting director whose idea it was to give Chapman a look in Green Bay, if they’d be interested in checking out punters he worked with. Absolutely, they said.
That’s how ProKick Australia, the supplier of an increasing number of college and NFL punters — including Bears rookie Tory Taylor — was born.
About Week 5
Quarterback Caleb Williams achieved a first on Sunday at Soldier Field — leading the Bears to a blowout victory.
The Bears jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and cruised to a 36-10 rout of the Panthers, improving to 3-2. Williams threw for 304 yards — including 200 in the first half — on 20-for-29 passing.
After their slow start together was a storyline all week leading up to the game, Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore connected for first-half touchdown passes of 34 and 30 yards. Moore, playing against the team that traded him away in the 2023 offseason, had five catches for 105 yards.