Sunday, July 28, 2013

Matt Blanchard off to solid start at Bears' Training Camp

Matt Blanchard (3rd from left) joins Josh McCown (12) and Jay Cutler (6) being "coached up" by QB Coach Matt Cavanaugh and Head Coach Mark Trestman - Photo credit: Matt Koch, Chicago Bears Official Website

Second year quarterback Matt Blanchard is apparently off to a solid start through four days at Chicago Bears Training Camp in Bourbonnais, IL.

Chicago Sun Times sports writer Mark Potash pen’s an article following each day’s practice titled: 5 observations from Day ___.

One of Potash’s five observations following Saturday’s practice was titled: 3. Matt Blanchard is earning a more serious look at quarterback.

The following Potash observation is the latest off-season articles that seem to say the former UW-Whitewater quarterback is making a serious bid for a regular season roster spot.

After being shuttled on and off the roster as an undrafted rookie in 2012, Blanchard is the No. 3 quarterback in camp behind Jay Cutler and Josh McCown. His skillset is a good fit for a Trestman-run offense and he makes the most of the few opportunities he gets — as he did in third-team reps on Saturday. The big question is whether he’ll get enough of an opportunity in training camp to show he deserves stronger consideration. Trestman said he’s trying to give Blanchard and other third-string players as much of an opportunity as he can.

‘‘I told the guys after practices that I don’t know what goes on in the NFL other places but we give these guys as many reps as any team,’’ Trestman said after practice. ‘‘Based on talking to other players who have been around, and I did, these guys are getting almost 20 plays and that’s a lot of plays for a third group.

“I told the guys they’ve got to make the most of every opportunity, and the only way to do that is to know what to do and do it as hard as fast as we can. And that’s what we’re looking for on the tape.”

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