Chicago Bears defensive coordinator, Chuck Pagano, spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon. He provided a rather intriguing comment on third-year linebacker Roquan Smith.

“he’s in probably the best shape of his life. He changed his body. He’s really, really lean. Looks really good. He’s moving around good. Again, his focus right now, and his mindset is off the charts.”

Let’s start by addressing the latter half of Pagano’s statement. According to the quote, Roquan seems to be in a great mindset heading into camp. This is encouraging news because there has been quite a bit of speculation when it comes to Smith’s state of mind over the past year. So again, this is great to hear if you’re a Bears fan. However, Chuck also commented on Roquan’s physical condition. He went on the record stating he thinks Smith is ‘in the best shape of his life.’ Although this could very well be true, some fans think it’s a flat out lie due to some photos of him that surfaced online via the Bears.

Pump the brakes

Remember, photos can be deceiving. I can understand the panic to an extent but Roquan is going to be fine. Just because he didn’t show up to camp as James Daniels did, doesn’t mean he won’t be ready by game one.

He is 23 years old. Give him a week or two of conditioning and he’ll be ready to go. There is no reason to worry.