Chicago Tribune

Photos from the Bears' joint practice with the Broncos in Englewood, Colo. on Aug. 15, 2018.

Now the football truly begins for Roquan Smith. The newly-signed rookie linebacker took the field Wednesday morning with the Bears for their practice against the Broncos at team headquarters in suburban Denver. Smith ended his holdout Tuesday morning by signing his fully-guaranteed four-year contract...

Roquan Smith’s holdout seemed like a fight over nonsense, or at least it feels like a nonsensical hill for the once-proud franchise formerly known as the Bears to die on. In a protracted negotiation over money and language and a bunch of what-ifs that always seemed unlikely to happen, it looks...

Welcome to the weekly Bear Download podcast with Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer. Listen below or subscribe and listen on iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play All Roquan Smith, all the time: Rich and Dan break down the end of the rookie's 29-day contract holdout (3:54 mark) and discuss what's next for...

Brad Biggs answers your Bears questions weekly. Does Roquan Smith start Week 1 against Green Bay? — @zr_1ls9 If that isn’t the first question most people have about the Bears’ first-round pick, it’s the second. I don’t expect the team to answer anytime soon. Barring something unexpected, Smith...

Packers coach Mike McCarthy wouldn't declare Justin McCray the winner of the training camp competition at right guard, but he got pretty close. What was supposed to be one of the bigger competitions of training camp never materialized. While McCray's would-be challenger, Lucas Patrick, has spent...

While Aaron Donald's second consecutive contract holdout drags deep into training camp, Todd Gurley and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams' offense have identified a silver lining to the persistent absence of the NFL's defensive player of the year. "We were talking about that last night," Gurley...

As Bears Chairman George McCaskey rode a scooter to practice Tuesday outside Halas Hall, the familiar blue-collar rock of Bachman-Turner Overdrive blared through the speakers. Takin’ care of business, every day. Takin’ care of business, every way. No weekend deejay could have picked a more appropriate...

Roquan Smith, the Bears’ first-round pick in the 2018 draft, signed his rookie contract on Tuesday morning. “We’re looking forward to Roquan joining our team and getting him prepared for the 2018 season,” Bears general manager Ryan Pace said in a statement. Smith, the No. 8 pick, missed all of...

Cedric Benson. David Terrell. Cade McNown. Curtis Enis. Oh, and Rashaan Salaam. Oops, babe. That’s some longstanding embarrassment for the Bears — first-round draft picks from the last 23 years who held out because of protracted contract talks and then went on to stink because of injury or ineptitude...

Bears rookie linebacker Roquan Smith didn’t make it to Bourbonnais for training camp, but he’ll have several days on the road to become reacquainted with his team if his contract becomes official early this week. As the Bears front office worked to end their first-round pick’s 29-day holdout, the...

Former University of Tennessee star linebacker A.J. Johnson is getting a shot in the NFL with the Denver Broncos less than a month after he was acquitted along with a college teammate of aggravated rape charges. After his first practice as a pro Monday, Johnson said, "It's a blessing to be a part...

Quarterback Paxton Lynch inched closer to full-blown bust status Monday when he was demoted to third string after Chad Kelly's solid debut in the Denver Broncos' exhibition opener. Lynch, whom the Broncos moved up to draft in the first round in 2016 out of Memphis, was beaten out by seventh-rounder...

A high school hit hard by Hurricane Harvey is getting a new playing surface thanks to the Texans. The Texans said Monday that they're donating the turf they played on at NRG Stadium last season to C.E. King High School after its field was destroyed in flooding from Harvey, which hit the area last...

LeSean McCoy's ex-girlfriend is suing the Buffalo Bills running back for failing to protect her after she was bloodied, beaten and had $133,000 worth of jewelry stolen during a home invasion last month. Delicia Cordon also alleges in a lawsuit filed in Fulton County, Georgia on Friday that McCoy...