Trestan Ebner produced the Bears' longest play from scrimmage in Saturday's preseason-opening win over the Chiefs with a 27-yard run.
Interestingly, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was more impressed with how the rookie running back finished the play than the move he made to break loose. After faking out cornerback Jaylen Watson with a tantalizing cut back, Ebner lowered his shoulder into cornerback Dicaprio Bootle along the sideline.
"It was an impressive cut," Getsy said. "But I just think when you have one of these young kids, you're on that sideline and there's a guy and you can run out of bounds. [But] the way he put his foot in the ground and got us five more yards, that's the mentality that we're trying to build here. That's one of those philosophical plays that we'll put up in the offensive unit room."
Ebner opened Saturday's game with a 34-yard kickoff return and led the Bears in rushing with 31 yards on six carries.
"The poise and the 'it's not too big for him' showed up," Getsy said. "He had the impressive kickoff return and then a couple of those runs. I just loved the way he finished those runs."
Ebner nearly broke a second long run in the Bears' 19-14 victory.
"He's got to clean up his reads," Getsy said. "He bounced the one and it paid off, and the next one he was just anticipating the same thing happening and the linebacker beat him to it. If he had kept it nice and tight inside … that's where the youth came in, the experience. He could have had two big ones, but I loved the way he finished each run, I really did."
Stepping up
With receivers Byron Pringle, N'Keal Harry and Velus Jones Jr. unable to play due to injuries, wideout Tajae Sharpe made the most of expanded playing time against the Chiefs.
The seventh-year pro made a nifty one-handed catch along the sideline of a 19-yard pass from Justin Fields and later hauled in a 25-yard reception from backup quarterback Trevor Siemian.
"He made a critical error in practice and we were like, 'Hey, you know this is your chance with these guys being out, this is your opportunity to make some plays,' and he took advantage of that," Getsy said.
"That was a heck of a catch that he made on the sideline to get his feet in and then to make another nice grab going down the field … so that was awesome. I was really proud of Tajae and the way he stepped up."
Impressive debut
Bears rookie left tackle Braxton Jones showed promise while working with the first-team offense versus Kansas City.
"It's got to be better," Getsy said. "But I would say for a guy that just got in here and is put in one of the toughest positions in our game, I thought he handled it really well for a first crack at it."
The Bears expect Jones to continue to improve, especially throughout the rest of training camp while being matched up against Pro Bowl pass rusher Robert Quinn.
"He's lucky; he's got Robert to go against most of the day here," Getsy said. "You talk about getting prepared every day, he has that opportunity here. So I think he's going to just keep getting better."
Roster move
The Bears on Monday waived defensive end Carson Taylor, an undrafted rookie from Northern Arizona.
They have four more players to cut by 3 p.m. (CT) Tuesday to reach the NFL's mandatory 85-man roster limit. They must then get down to 80 players by 3 p.m. next Tuesday and 53 by 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30.
