Chicago Bears training camp: 6 Players hurt by not having a preseason

4. Deon Bush, Safety

The Chicago Bears let free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix walk away in free agency so they could move Eddie Jackson back to his natural position. Jackson made the Pro Bowl as a strong safety in 2019, but he wasn’t the dominant ball hawk there as he was as a free safety.

With the move, the Bears looked for another strong safety. They found a good one in Tashaun Gipson. Even so, the coaches insist that Deon Bush, a backup since the Bears drafted him in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft, would battle Gipson for the starting strong safety spot.

Bush has mainly been a special teams specialist in his time with the Bears. In 2018 he played in 14 percent of the defensive snaps, but that number dropped to five percent with Jackson starting there.

Now Bush got thrust into a battle for a starting job. It was going to be a hard road to take to win the job and now with no preseason games, it’s even more difficult. He can’t go play with the number ones of other teams in game-time situations.

This is likely Bush’s best opportunity to become a starter, even as difficult as it was. Gipson is a good player and he’ll probably be a good complement to Jackson. Bush will spend another season without being a starter. At least he’ll be the main backup and will play a lot more snaps this season.