Larry Mayer
Bears Senior Writer
NASHVILLE – The Bears delivered impressive performances in all three phases in their all-important third preseason game Sunday in Tennessee, beating the Titans 19-7.
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Gameday Photos: Bears at Titans
Chicago’s offense, defense and special teams all made key plays in a convincing 19-7 victory over the Titans at Nissan Stadium. The news was not all positive, however, as top receiver Cameron Meredith sustained what coach John Fox reported is “suspected to be an ACL injury” late in the first quarter.
Quarterback Mike Glennon performed well, completing 11 of 18 passes for 134 yards with one touchdown and a 102.5 passer rating on four possessions in the first half. Rookie Mitchell Trubisky, meanwhile, connected on 10 of 15 passes for 128 yards with one TD and a 115.4 rating on the first four possessions of the second half before yielding to Connor Shaw.
The Bears defense held the Titans scoreless through three quarters, while the special teams tallied a safety on a blocked punt by Roy Robertson-Harris that rolled out of the end zone.
Glennon was very sharp from the outset of Sunday’s game. On the Bears’ first possession, he completed 7 of 9 passes for 84 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown to tight end Dion Sims. One of Glennon’s two incompletions was a drop by receiver Titus Davis.
“Our offense came out [and] Mike orchestrated a very efficient drive right down the field,” Fox said. “I thought he was real efficient. With a week’s game plan and his strength being at the line of scrimmage, I thought you got to see a little bit more of what he’s capable of.”
The touchdown capped an impressive 15-play, 96-yard drive that burned 7:12 off the clock. The Bears converted 3-of-3 third downs all on Kendall Wright receptions from Glennon of 10 yards on third-and-nine, 10 yards on third-and-seven and 15 yards on third-and-eight.
“That’s about as good of a drive as you’re going to have in football,” Glennon said. “Our offense played well coming out of the gate. Receivers made a couple plays, the line did a good job blocking. It was nice to get that long drive to start the game.”
Sunday’s game was clearly Glennon’s best of the preseason.
“Mike was just going through his reads,” Wright said. “When you’re a quarterback that height you pretty much can see anything. He was just finding the open man today. That’s really it. He’s getting better. He’s obviously our leader. When he’s playing good, we all play good. As receivers, we’ve got to go out there and make plays for him whenever he throws the ball.”
Unfortunately, the Bears receiving corps took a major blow with :32 left in the first quarter when Meredith was hit by safety Johnathan Cyprien while making a 16-yard reception over the middle. Meredith had an inflatable cast placed on his leg and was carted off the field.
The Bears extended their lead to 9-0 early in the second quarter when Harris blocked Brett Kern’s punt out of the end zone. Adam Shaheen nearly recovered the ball for a touchdown, but he was ruled out of bounds.
After the Titans’ Ryan Succop missed a 40-yard field goal attempt wide left, Connor Barth’s 41-yard field goal gave the Bears a 12-0 lead with :24 left in the half. The 10-play, 47-yard drive was sustained by Glennon’s 19-yard pass to Kevin White on third-and-10.
The Titans closed the gap to 12-7 on Derrick Henry’s 3-yard touchdown reception from Marcus Mariota on the first play of the fourth quarter. The score capped an 11-play, 90-yard drive by Tennessee’s No. 1 offense against Chicago reserves.
The Bears answered, however, as Trubisky showed his long-range accuracy with a pinpoint 45-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Tanner Gentry down the left sideline. The score capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive and widened the margin to 19-7 with 10:37 left in the fourth quarter.
“We got the look we wanted,” Trubisky said. “It started up front. The o-line did a great job in protection. [I identified] the defense, we had the coverage we wanted and Tanner beat his man. I just put it where he could get it and he made a great play on the ball.”
