After a long wait, Bears rookie Kiran Amegadjie back at practice
The most memorable moment of Kiran Amegadjie’s training camp thus far has been playing tiny cymbals during teammate Theo Benedet’s pantsless rendition of “God Bless the U.S.A" on "Hard Knocks."
That should change soon. The rookie third-round pick practiced for the second-straight day Tuesday after recovering from October quad surgery while at Yale.
Amegadjie took some snaps at left tackle and hasn’t been asked to cross-train elsewhere. Still, he has a long way to go to challenge Braxton Jones.
He hadn’t gone this long without playing football since he started playing it as a kid.
“I knew I already loved football, but I learned how much I appreciate football and appreciate getting out there with the team and appreciate playing the game, the chess match of it,” the Hinsdale Central alum said. “Really just being physical, hitting. Everything that is football, I just find that I appreciate more than I even knew I did.”
Tempers flare
After fighting only once all camp, the Bears had skirmishes on consecutive plays. Tempers first flared when defensive tackle Gervon Dexter knocked backup running back Ian Wheeler to the ground. On the next play, T.J. Edwards hit ball-carrier Velus Jones and a fight erupted. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker was left without a helmet and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds checked his own leg for damage. Edmunds returned to team drills soon thereafter.
Injury update
Ten days after missing his first practice, safety Jaquan Brisker did more work than at any point during his convalescence, participating in some 11-on-11 drills. Fellow safety Kevin Byard, who broke his career-long Ironman streak when he missed practice Monday with what coach Matt Eberflus called a soft tissue injury, remained out. Eberflus said the Bears "feel really good about where he is."
This and that
• Other players to miss practice were center Ryan Bates, cornerback Jaylon Jones, cornerback Leon Jones, long snapper Patrick Scales, defensive end Jacob Martin, receiver Collin Johnson, defensive tackle Zacch Pickens, tight end Marcedes Lewis and Benedet. Lewis presumably was taking a veteran day off.
• Tight end Gerald Everett made the best catch of practice, hauling in a touchdown into the end zone over Tyrique Stevenson. Bears officials, including GM Ryan Poles, checked the replay on a "Hard Knocks" camera.
• Eberflus reiterated that, even though defensive coordinator Eric Washington called plays during parts of preseason games, the head coach will be the play-caller during the regular season.
• Tuesday was the last practice with fans in attendance.