Chicago Bears: 3 Standouts from Preseason Week 2 vs. Giants
3. James Vaughters, OLB
With the starters not seeing the field for the Bears, fans didn’t get to see the big names like Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd take the field on Friday night. That was clearly by design for Matt Nagy and Chuck Pagano as they try and make sense of the depth behind those guys to develop a strong rotation and guys who can step in if an injury should occur.
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There are high hopes that 2018 sixth-round pick Kylie Fitts can step up in these types of opportunities but, to this point, he has not done that for the Bears. Instead, it was journeyman outside linebacker James Vaughters that took the field and seized the chance before him by making plays against the Giants.
Vaughters, who has bounced around training camp and offseason rosters in addition to playing in the CFL since being an undrafted free agent in 2015, came up with a splash play against New York. The well-traveled defender showed some nice burst off the edge and got home to Daniel Jones, strip-sacking the quarterback and recovering the loose ball to complete the forced turnover.
There’s no question that Vaughters has an uphill battle to try and make this roster over the final two weeks of the preseason. If he’s going to have any hope of being part of the final 53, though, making plays like the one he did on Friday is exactly what he needs to do.