There really wasn’t much notable on-field Bears news in the past month, so allow me to make this report a bit of an editorial. The USA has World Cup fever at the moment, with fans around the world coming to our country and having a blast supporting their teams and partaking in American culture. One city that is conspicuously absent from all the fun: Chicago. It is such a shame that my hometown is missing out on all the festivities, and we have former Mayor Rahm Emanuel to thank for this. Emanuel said that FIFA was asking for too much, but other major cities like LA, NYC, Boston, Philly, etc. all said yes. Keep in mind that the opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup was at Soldier Field, along with a few of the matches. To not have Chicago as one of the host cities just feels wrong.

Another real shame: the fact that the Bears have shifted their focus for their new stadium from Arlington Heights, IL to Hammond, Indiana. The team’s fight song literally says that the Bears are "the pride and joy of Illinois", and you’re telling me they’re going to Indiana? There is plenty of blame to go around for this, from the Bears themselves to Chicago lawmakers and especially Illinois lawmakers, who couldn’t be bothered to work together and come up with a solution until the last minute and ran out of time when the state legislature adjourned. Illinois lawmakers may think the Bears are bluffing, but everyone has a breaking point, and the team really will pack up and leave if the state government can’t get its act together and come up with something soon.

Earlier this month, QB Caleb Williams became the first Bear to be selected for the cover of the Madden video game. Will Caleb fall victim to the infamous Madden cover jinx? Fingers crossed that he doesn’t, though the NFL’s toughest schedule will be a big challenge for Williams and the Bears. It was also announced last week that the Bears will be featured in a Hallmark Christmas movie later this year. No comment.

Now for a few notes from OTAs and minicamp this month. On offense, WR Rome Odunze said that the foot he broke last season would never really be "back to normal" but shouldn’t prevent him from making plays. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in training camp. Williams is working on ball placement and reading defenses pre-snap. WR Luther Burden III continued to impress. WR Kalif Raymond showed elite speed and excellent run-after-catch ability. Rookie WR Zavion Thomas showed off his 4.28 speed and explosiveness at times.

On defense, CB Jaylon Johnson was back and making plays, but CB Kyler Gordon still had injury issues, which is troubling after all the time he missed last season. DE Dayo Odeyingbo was able to get some practice work in. Rookie S Dillon Thieneman got some work with the starters.

End.