Strangely candid Fox lays out QB play, camp ideas.

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Here’s a general observation with the Bears’ third offseason program under coach John Fox concluding on Thursday: the defense was better than the offense throughout it.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s group passed the eye test during organized team activities and minicamp. It was their interceptions and pass breakups. And it was their would-be sacks of quarterbacks if they could be hit.

But coach John Fox isn’t fretting about the offense, and nor should he in June. In his experience, the defense typically tends to be ahead of the offense at this point on the calendar.

“So much of offensive football is assignment oriented,” Fox said. “On defense, a guy can do the totally wrong thing and make a play. That doesn’t happen on offense.”

It also doesn’t happen immediately when there are wholesale changes at quarterback and the Bears have four starters — guards Kyle Long and Josh Sitton, receiver Cam Meredith and tight end Zach Miller – focusing more on rehabilitating their respective injuries.

But with Fox seemingly overflowing with optimism – “This is the most encouraged I’ve been in my tenure here,” he said – it should be noted that he’s more linked to the offense than he’s ever been with the Bears.

It’s thought that the changes at quarterback have afforded Fox more time, if not more leeway to right his ship that sunk to 3-13 last.

In a way, the arrivals of Mike Glennon and Mitch Trubisky signify a fresh start. The Bears are rebuilding, and those efforts wouldn’t have been complete without the departure of eight-year starter Jay Cutler.

But Fox, a respected defensive mind, still needs to win with Glennon as his starter and develop Trubisky as the Bears’ future. Fox and general manager Ryan Pace have faith in offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone, but Fox also needs be hands-on. It’s still his show.

“I thought [Glennon and Trubisky] improved,” Fox said. “We did a lot of situational football. We’ve been able to create some of the environments we’ll have in games. Hopefully, the more they do it, the better they’ll get at it.”

To help ensure that, Fox has made changes.

The Bears quarterbacks are using virtual reality technology to increase the plays that they see even if they’re not going through them physically.

A giant video board has been added to the sidelines at practice to provide all players immediate looks at plays as if they were in games.

Fox highlighted the three schedules the Bears will use at training camp in effort to limit what he described as “grinding [the players] down.”

But the Bears also are organizing their practices to ensure that Glennon, Trubisky and even Mark Sanchez get enough work. It’s a noticeable difference than in the past when Cutler would get the bulk of the repetitions in practice. But it’s a priority for Fox after he sought advice from other coaches who were in a similar situations.

“The biggest thing is creating the reps for all three quarterbacks and still developing the ones you think are proven the most worthy,” Fox said. “The way our practices are set up, we may give a certain group maybe more reps at the end of the practice [because] they’re not quite as set as some people at that position.

“[The quarterbacks] need those type of reps. Even though it’s not games, it’s still live football for the most part, and [it’s] making those decisions. A big part of being quarterback is the decision-making, and the more opportunities we can put them in that position the better.”

It’s because Fox knows he and the Bears will be better off for it. The ups and downs of the quarterbacks will define more than this season.

“I like the way they go about their business, and we still have a lot of work to do, for sure,” Fox said. “We’ll see where it takes us.”
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