The Chicago Bears were expected by many to have a better record this year than they did in their last outing after finishing the previous campaign with a 3-14 record. While they began their campaign with a win over the Tennessee Titans in the preseason, two losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills followed afterward.
The team’s most recent defeat, suffered on Saturday against the Bills, coincided with their long-awaited decision to trade veteran defensive end Trevis Gipson.
Bears conclude the preseason with a narrow loss to Bills at Soldier Field
The Bears were anticipated to challenge their divisional opponents hard, but they ended their preseason schedule at Soldier Field with a close 24-21 loss to the Bills.
Justin Field started the game, and Tyson Bagent served as the offense’s backup quarterback. Justin had a few first-half snaps, but on the third-down scramble, he left the pocket too soon and finished 2-for-6 for 51 yards while also rushing three times for 16 yards.
Bagent, on the other hand, had some trouble but finished his strong preseason by going 7 for 14 for 43 yards and one interception. Following the close loss, the teams’ coach Matt Eberflus suggested a roundtable session to decide on their final 90-man roster will take place shortly.
“Overall, we got a lot of good evaluation, tape to look at,” said coach Matt Eberflus. “[We’ll] see where it goes. We’ve got some tough decisions to make coming up in the next couple days. We’ll sit down, watch the tape, and then we’ll have meetings [Sunday] with Ryan [Poles], Ian [Cunningham], myself, and the coordinators to figure out where we’re heading in terms of the cutdown and all that.”
The Bills got a brief overview of their Week 1 roster, with Field being named the starter and Bagent the backup, the day before the regular season. Tremaine Edmunds left after a brief tenure, and Jack Sanborn took over as the starter in the Bears’ core defense.
Rasheem Green, Dominique Robinson, and Terrell Lewis will likely engage in a place-swapping competition for the defensive end position in DeMarcus Walker’s absence.
Bears have allowed defensive end Trevis Gipson to trade
Following their final preseason game, the Bears ultimately decided to release veteran player Trevis because they needed to reduce their roster from 87 to 53 players. Later, Gipson was given permission to look for a trade after his Bears’ production fell in 2022.
Defensive end Trevis Gipson has received permission from the #Bears to seek a trade, per sources. Gipson had seven sacks in 2021 and could be looking to get back to a 3-4 scheme. pic.twitter.com/6n6MIQsL2p
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 26, 2023
Before the Bears’ first preseason game, Gipson was listed at the bottom of their first unofficial depth chart despite having a breakout year with seven sacks, 39 tackles, and 469 snaps played. The 26-year-old, who recorded eight total tackles, three quarterback hits, and a sack over 65 defensive snaps in two games, did not, however, win the team over with his performance in the preseason games.
Before taking his trade decision, the Chicago team added a pair of quality run defenders and established their defensive end room with Ngakoue, Walker, Green, Robinson, and Lewis. With this updated defensive room, the teams’ performance in the regular season remains to be seen.
Do you think their move with Gipson was a wise one? Let us know in the comment box.
