Khalil Mack is the most dominant force at Chicago Bears training camp this month. That is not a surprise to anybody. He remains one of the best defensive players in football. The question isn’t whether he’ll produce. It is whether the rest of the outside linebacker position can take advantage of his presence. Robert Quinn and Barkevious Mingo failed to last season. Now eyes are on guys like Trevis Gipson and Jeremiah Attaochu to pick up the slace. They may not be alone though. It seems LeDarius Mack is trying to insert himself into that conversation.
Remember him? The younger brother of Khalil, Chicago signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Buffalo last offseason. Unfortunately, he walked into a difficult situation. The Bears had no rookie minicamps, OTAs, mandatory minicamps, or even a preseason. That left players like him with few opportunities to make any sort of impression. That means Saturday will mark his first actual NFL game action.
By the sound of things, he’s more than ready for it.
While other backups have drawn most of the attention in camp, those who have watched carefully have seen the younger Mack’s name pop up from time to time. The latest being at the joint practices against the Miami Dolphins. According to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, he had some nice moments in pass rushing drills that drew reactions from his teammates.
“Bears outside linebacker LeDarius Mack got some praise from his teammates and coaches when he used his speed to blow past a tackle.”
This isn’t an isolated incident either. Mack has emerged a number of times over the previous days. Not just in one-on-one drills either. He’s registered sacks in work against the opposing offense too.
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After Dalton hit on five straight the defense answers with back to back sacks. One by Roquan, and the other by Mack …. LeDarius Mack that is.
— The Chicago Audible (@ChicagoAudible) August 2, 2021
For the loyal listeners, I noted a sack for Ledarius Mack in today’s practice. https://t.co/IV6r7j31SU
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 7, 2021
This offers some indication that the second-year outside linebacker has learned a few things since last season. Most of which he spent on the practice squad.
LeDarius Mack has a chance to build some momentum
It is one thing to look good in practice. What head coach Matt Nagy wants to see is whether these players can carry it over into game action. Most of the time that just isn’t the case. A lot of guys can’t handle the added spotlight or make the adjustments to playing new faces. Can the younger Mack avoid that common problem? He’ll have to because right now it’s a safe bet he’s on the outside looking in with this roster.
There are at least two guys ahead of him on the depth chart in Gipson and Attaochu. One could argue four with James Vaughters too. That is a lot of ground to make up for LeDarius Mack. He is going to need a standout performance in the preseason in order to convince the coaching staff he deserves consideration for the main roster. It certainly wouldn’t hurt if he does some good work on special teams.
This is a big month for him.
Mack had a lot of questions about his ceiling when signed. Some wondered if he’d even end up being an outside linebacker at just 5’11. It appears he is proving people wrong about his ability. Something his older brother has insisted since he was coming out of high school. This will be another exciting subplot to watch as the preseason gets going.
