Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of questions from fans on ChicagoBears.com.
On the play where Mitchell Trubisky was intercepted against the Packers, it looked like a different Green Bay defender interfered with Allen Robinson II, preventing him from jumping to make a play on the ball. My understanding is that this is now reviewable and/or challengeable. Did Matt Nagy consider challenging that play?
Martin
Coach Matt Nagy was asked about that in his press conference last Friday, the day after the game, and he said that he didn't consider challenging the non-call because there wasn't clear and obvious evidence that a pass interference penalty occurred. I completely agree with him. There was only slight contact between Robinson and cornerback Tramon Williams, certainly not enough for a penalty to be called.
Why was Roy Robertson-Harris not credited with two sacks during Thursday night's season opener against the Packers? By my count, he should have been credited for one each on the plays that Tom Thayer so ably explained on the website.
Roger
Vail, Arizona
The second sack of Aaron Rodgers that Tom Thayer breaks down in the latest edition of Thayer's Playbook was actually credited to defensive tackle Akiem Hicks. But watching the replay, it appears that Roy Robertson-Harris arrived at the same time as Hicks and probably at least deserves to split the sack with his veteran teammate. The NFL sometimes reviews those plays and makes a change during the week. I'll let you know if that happens. Regardless, I thought that Robertson-Harris had an excellent game and has really been ascending over the past couple years since the Bears switched him from outside linebacker to defensive line. They're going to need a lot of different contributors in the high altitude and heat Sunday in Denver, so Robertson-Harris should get a lot of opportunities to add to his sack total against a quarterback in Joe Flacco who is a traditional pocket passer.
Given that the offensive line didn't play its best game in the opener against the Packers, do you think the Bears may switch center James Daniels and left guard Cody Whitehair back to their old positions?
Ross S.
No, I don't see that happening at this juncture. The Bears are pleased with how James Daniels and Cody Whitehair have performed at center and left guard, respectively. Here's what offensive line coach Harry Hiestand had to say about the two players Tuesday at Halas Hall: "In general, they're doing well, working super well together. James played a really good football player in there (Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark), battled him tooth and nail. He went out and did some of those same things everybody else did. But you could see he fits there." The play that has received the most attention is the one on which Clark penetrated into the backfield and dropped Cordarrelle Patterson for a two-yard loss on third-and-one. It appeared that Daniels got beat on the play, but Hiestand absolved the second-year pro of blame, saying: "It was a stunt, so James had little chance on that the way we approached it. I didn't prepare him for that pressure in that front and so he was playing it like a normal two-gap and then they brought a safety. That looked really, really bad on [Daniels], but overall he didn't look like that the rest of the night."
