— When NFL officials visited Bears camp to show a film on rule changes aimed at player safety Brian Urlacher Jersey Youth , inside linebacker Danny Trevathan realized he’d have to alter his style.
“Shoot,” Trevathan said. “I was on the film.”
One of last season’s most physical and controversial plays landed Trevathan a one-game suspension, and joined several other incidents of brutality in causing the NFL to curtail the use of helmets in tackling.
Trevathan’s helmet-leading hit knocked Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams out of a Sept. 28 game and resulted in a two-game suspension — later reduced to one on appeal.
Possibly more than any other Bears player, Trevathan must now keep his physical, aggressive style in check.
“I’ve got to be able to move on from it and learn the new techniques,” Trevathan said. “The game is constantly changing. That’s what we get paid to do, I guess. I’ve got to take that in my play.”
Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio believes it’s a matter of accepting change for all defensive players, and eventually they’ll adjust as with other rules.
“One of the most non-football rules ever put into football was the 5-yard illegal contact rule,” Fangio said. “If coaches from the 60s rose from the dead today they would want to go back in their grave with that rule.
“And we’ve adjusted.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy is seeing signs of Trevathan controlling his play.
“There’s a leadership element, which goes without saying,” Nagy said. “There’s a physicality that he brings.”
The Bears had what Nagy called their most physical practice of camp Sunday, complete with a full-contact red-zone period. And Nagy noticed Trevathan pulling back at one point when he could have easily smashed rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller.
“There was a play today where he could have knocked (Miller) into the stands and he decided not to, and that was in a live period Jimmy Garoppolo 49ers Jersey ,” Nagy said. “So to me, when you see that, I’m going to point that out to the team tonight because that wasn’t stupidity. That was a veteran being smart, not taking out one of our guys.
“He knows it’s live, he knows he doesn’t have to prove anything, so just play smart.”
Trevathan also views playing under control as a benefit to his own health. This is important because Trevathan has missed 10 games the last two seasons due to injuries, and the defense suffered then without its field general.
The effect on the Bears’ defense without him is obvious.
In 2016, the Bears allowed 152 yards rushing a game without Trevathan starting seven games, and 98.4 yards in nine games when he started. Last year they allowed an average of 97.5 yards rushing in 11 games with Trevathan and 140 yards a game in five without him.
“It’s imperative that I be on that field,” Trevathan said. “I’m not going to let my team down anymore. That comes with a responsibility: just taking care of yourself.
“You know plays happen; you get injured. It’s only going to make the defense better when I’m out there because I’m going to push and I’m going to work my tail off and I’m not going to let anybody beat me.”
Like the rest of the Bears, Trevathan watched former Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. Trevathan gained insight from Urlacher’s speech, particularly in regards to overcoming adversity and being a good teammate.
“That’s one of the main reasons why I came here — the tradition at linebacker,” said Trevathan Anthony Miller Jersey , who left Denver as a free agent after 2015. “It’s not an easy job, but like he (Urlacher) said, it’s like the tough stuff makes you grow.
“I’m here for a reason, and I like playing linebacker for the Chicago Bears.”
NOTES: Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel missed Sunday’s practice after suffering a foot injury in Saturday’s session. Nagy called it “day to day” and not serious.
Thanks, Vegas.
The Stanley Cup Final run of the expansion Golden Knights contributed to what is expected to be a healthy increase for the salary cap, giving NHL teams more freedom to make deals. With elite center John Tavares, top defenseman John Carlson and a strong group of free agents available soon, the ceiling for player spending will rise to between $78 and $82 million from $75 million.
”The higher the better,” said Brian MacLellan, whose Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. ”It makes it a lot more fun.”
Gentlemen, open your wallets – players like Tavares, Carlson and forwards James van Riemsdyk and Paul Stastny won’t come cheap.
With GMs meeting Thursday in Dallas ahead of this weekend’s draft, trade talk is percolating before free agency opens July 1. Ottawa has already traded winger Mike Hoffman Joe Namath Jersey , and Buffalo center Ryan O’Reilly, Pittsburgh forward Phil Kessel, Montreal captain Max Pacioretty and Washington backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer could all be on the move.
Ottawa captain Erik Karlsson is the star who will go to the highest bidder if the Senators are willing to trade the Norris Trophy-winning defenseman with one year remaining on his contract. GM Pierre Dorion seemed to be in a tough spot after it was revealed last week that Karlsson’s wife had filed an order of protection against Hoffman’s girlfriend, Monika Caryk, alleging harassment and bullying. He solved that issue by acquiring Mikkel Boedker from the San Jose Sharks for Hoffman in the first major trade of the offseason.
San Jose flipped Hoffman to Florida soon thereafter, freeing up salary-cap space to pursue Tavares or Russian standout Ilya Kovalchuk. The Panthers got a 20-goal scorer in Hoffman, who’s just 28.
More immediate decisions await the Islanders and Capitals. New York could make a move to re-sign Tavares before he can begin speaking with other teams on Monday, and recently hired president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello has to hire a new coach.
The Islanders might’ve gotten a fortunate bounce when Barry Trotz resigned from his job with Washington less than two weeks after lifting the Cup. Re-signing Tavares and hiring a replacement for fired coach Doug Weight go hand-in-hand.
If it doesn’t work out and Tavares hits the open market, a contract with an annual salary approaching Connor McDavid’s $12.5 million isn’t out of the question. Nashville GM David Poile said cap situations put five or six teams in position for top-end free agents – and knock about half the league out of the running.
”We all have different commitments already of contracts,” Poile said. ”Some teams have a lot of room. Some teams don’t have very much room.”
Big-revenue teams with money to spend include the retooling New York Rangers and the rising Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers are among several teams linked to Kovalchuk, the 35-year-old winger who’s looking to return to the NHL after five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who won an Olympic gold medal with Kovalchuk, is back in the U.S. and could be on the way to returning. Voynov was convicted of domestic abuse and is suspended indefinitely by the NHL Saquon Barkley Jersey Youth , which makes it unclear how a team will pave the way for him to play.
”Right now he’s a suspended player, and until anything changes there, I don’t think we’re in a position to comment any further,” Kings GM Rob Blake said. ”A lot of this has to take place between him, his agent and the National Hockey League.”
Dozens of current free agents don’t know where they’ll be playing next season. Beyond Tavares, Carlson is the most in-demand pending free agent after leading all defensemen in regular-season and playoff points.
Carlson plans to have his day with the Stanley Cup in Washington, but because of the uncertainty of the offseason, there’s no guarantee he’ll be there this fall.
”We’ll see what happens,” Carlson said. ”I love it here and all that, I want to stay here, but there’s more to it than that.”
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