Bears safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who needs preseason playing time to get to know his new teammates, started Thursday. So did the Bears’ two rookie starters from last year, Roquan Smith and Bilal Nichols. Steady nose tackle Eddie Goldman, too.
They lasted five plays before sitting the rest of the game out.
Still, there was plenty to glean from the Bears’ defensive performance in Thursday’s preseason opener. Here are three things we learned:
Where’s the edge rush?
It took the Bears four plays to manufacture a pass rush — inside linebacker Roquan Smith recorded a sack on a blitz.