'14 TN OT Alex Bars (Notre Dame Signee)

[ulukinatme]

40 year decision time should start now.

Little early to call it a career in the NFL. Do you know something we don't? Doesn't sound serious by all accounts.

 

[Rogue219]

Little early to call it a career in the NFL. Do you know something we don't? Doesn't sound serious by all accounts.

His career has been littered with injuries. Is it really worth it? Especially for an UDFA rookie.

It's a knee contusion that isn't serious, but its one more thing for him on top of the carnage his body as already been through.

I don't know. I'm a quality of life kind of person I guess.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bears rookie Alex Bars suffered a knee contusion, Matt Nagy said. The belief is it's not a serious injury.</p>— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) <a href="https://twitter.com/CEmma670/status/1157328773190160384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Great news. I hope he can make the 53 and earn a spot for a few years before coming back to the workforce.

 

[ulukinatme]

His career has been littered with injuries. Is it really worth it? Especially for an UDFA rookie.

It's a knee contusion that isn't serious, but its one more thing for him on top of the carnage his body as already been through.

I don't know. I'm a quality of life kind of person I guess.

Look at Tyler Eifert's career. He's had way more injuries, but he obviously still enjoys playing and if he can stay healthy this season (Big if, I know) he could be worth the gamble the Bengals took to bring him back. When Eifert has been healthy, he's been one of the best TEs in the game.

Every player is different, and if Bars manages to get over the hump he stands a chance of getting a better contract and making some great money. When it comes to life after football, OL tend to deal with less nagging injuries because you're not getting hit like RBs and WRs, and you're not as prone to concussions like defenders are. The biggest problem you have is with lower joints/ligaments, lot of knee/hip replacements later in life. That kind of comes with the territory when you're a big guy though.

 

[Old Man Mike]

"OLinemen tend to deal with less nagging injuries .... " that will be news to the OLinemen that I've known. I will admit that LATELY the powers that be in football have attempted several things to reduce that (no immediate smashing of centers, closer chop block monitoring --- how many OLine has Navy sent to the hospital? --- no hammering to the helmet by pass rushers, etc) but down in the meat house there are things happening that the refs don't always see let alone call.

Lots of OLine that I know have terminated careers due to knee damages --- one of my brothers said to his coach when he "retired" upon serious college knee injury: Coach, I'd like to be able someday to bounce my babies on my knee and play daddy-is-horse carrying them around. Admittedly serious repetitive concussions are going down due to the recent lay-off-the-head rules, but the OLineman's helmet used to be target number one by the DLine. The old joke was: that Dlineman hit him so hard that he came back to the huddle looking out his earhole.

 

[Rogue219]

Look at Tyler Eifert's career. He's had way more injuries, but he obviously still enjoys playing and if he can stay healthy this season (Big if, I know) he could be worth the gamble the Bengals took to bring him back. When Eifert has been healthy, he's been one of the best TEs in the game.

Every player is different, and if Bars manages to get over the hump he stands a chance of getting a better contract and making some great money. When it comes to life after football, OL tend to deal with less nagging injuries because you're not getting hit like RBs and WRs, and you're not as prone to concussions like defenders are. The biggest problem you have is with lower joints/ligaments, lot of knee/hip replacements later in life. That kind of comes with the territory when you're a big guy though.

I looked at his career. Eifert was a first round pick. Significant difference.

Perhaps a quick reaction on my part at the news about Bars, but I have always felt bad for the kid as an ND fan because he could never stay healthy. My brother in law met Bars last month at a concert down in Nashville (Weishar and Q Nelson too). He said Bars talked a lot about injuries and such.

I don't know. Just fresh in my mind I guess. The sport takes a lot out of you at a high level and it has already taken so much from this boy. I just hope he has good health down the line regardless of however many snaps he gets in the NFL.

 

[Rogue219]

"OLinemen tend to deal with less nagging injuries .... " that will be news to the OLinemen that I've known. I will admit that LATELY the powers that be in football have attempted several things to reduce that (no immediate smashing of centers, closer chop block monitoring --- how many OLine has Navy sent to the hospital? --- no hammering to the helmet by pass rushers, etc) but down in the meat house there are things happening that the refs don't always see let alone call.

Lots of OLine that I know have terminated careers due to knee damages --- one of my brothers said to his coach when he "retired" upon serious college knee injury: Coach, I'd like to be able someday to bounce my babies on my knee and play daddy-is-horse carrying them around. Admittedly serious repetitive concussions are going down due to the recent lay-off-the-head rules, but the OLineman's helmet used to be target number one by the DLine. The old joke was: that Dlineman hit him so hard that he came back to the huddle looking out his earhole.

I have an uncle who played D3 OL and had hip replacement surgery 10 years ago. My other uncle played in the Big Ten as a center and had multiple knee surgeries. Both are now in their mid sixties. Neither played in The League.

Plenty of guys go through pain having not played at a high level in college or the pros. Goes to show how tough the game really is.

 

[ulukinatme]

"OLinemen tend to deal with less nagging injuries .... " that will be news to the OLinemen that I've known. I will admit that LATELY the powers that be in football have attempted several things to reduce that (no immediate smashing of centers, closer chop block monitoring --- how many OLine has Navy sent to the hospital? --- no hammering to the helmet by pass rushers, etc) but down in the meat house there are things happening that the refs don't always see let alone call.

Lots of OLine that I know have terminated careers due to knee damages --- one of my brothers said to his coach when he "retired" upon serious college knee injury: Coach, I'd like to be able someday to bounce my babies on my knee and play daddy-is-horse carrying them around. Admittedly serious repetitive concussions are going down due to the recent lay-off-the-head rules, but the OLineman's helmet used to be target number one by the DLine. The old joke was: that Dlineman hit him so hard that he came back to the huddle looking out his earhole.

I don't disagree with what you're saying, but maybe I should clarify my statements better. OL tend to have far less concussions than say a RB or a TE, that's kind of what I was getting at. I forget where I saw the data, but after DBs the OL have the fewest overall (Combined undiagnosed and diagnosed) concussions and that's the most important statistic when you're talking future health. That's not to say OL never get concussions, but statistically they're not tackling and being tackled so any collisions that occur with their helmets come at lower velocities compared to other positions. I never played at the college level, but myself nor any of the other guys on our line ever had concussions. Our RBs, LBs, TEs? Very different story.

As far as lower body injuries, sure, you would like to have healthy knees and hips when you're 50 or older but when you're a big guy anyway there's no guarantee you're not going to have those problems regardless of playing football or not. My dad is one of six boys in his family, and between him and his brothers they're all 6'3" or taller and they probably average 280. None of them played football, but between them there's been a number of knee and hip replacements. Some of that is genetic, I'm sure, but my dad has been the recipient of two hip replacements and a knee replacement and he's been told it's not uncommon for big guys to have those done. So while health after football is certainly a concern for every player, I'm just saying that OL are less susceptible because if you are going to have nagging injuries after it's less likely to be head related...which is good, and if you do have lower body nagging injuries it's not a guarantee you wouldn't have experienced them anyway being bred as a large human.

 

[Legacy]

Chicago Bears: Identifying roster battles

Breaks down each position group. Who are the bubble players on the OLine?

Offensive line: Alex Bars, Rashaad Coward, Cornelius Lucas, T.J. Clemmings

Bars has found a way to go from a UDFA to a leader in the clubhouse to make the 53-man as a seventh offensive lineman. His ability to jump between tackle and guard has been on display, as well as healthy-his biggest pre-draft question.

Bars is closing in on becoming a lock thanks to the issues of the other three. One of these three has to make it, but there is no telling who.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Chicago Bears: Identifying roster battles

Breaks down each position group. Who are the bubble players on the OLine?

I would be really stoked if Bars can break into the starting lineup.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I would be really stoked if Bars can break into the starting lineup.

I bet he'll get at least a game since Long always seems to miss a few

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Awesome news, good for him!

 

[T-Boone]

I thought he was injured? I guess Kyle Hamilton intervened.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I thought he was injured? I guess Kyle Hamilton intervened.

Whatever injury he suffered in training camp doesn't appear to be anything major.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Apparently played as a backup LT in the game vs the Colts and didn't look awful. That should make him a lock for the roster

 

[BobbyMac]

Apparently played as a backup LT in the game vs the Colts and didn't look awful. That should make him a lock for the roster

Also read an interesting snippet about how HH wanted Bars to remain at OT (at ND) but he had to shift him inside to play guard rather than him not being able to play OT. I always thought Bars was going to be the LT when McG left but apparently HH didn't recruit the OG position well enough to let him remain at OT.

 

[Rogue219]

TJ Clemmings has an edge as far as experience. Coward hurt his elbow but should be the favorite to make the squad. Even if they go with eight guys Bars could be out.

Potentially, they could keep two for eight total and the odd man out goes to the practice squad.

 

[OCIrish]

Clemmings has been awful in preseason, and Bars playing spot duty at OT in the Colts game should've solidified his roster spot. Mustipher on the other hand may be looking at the practice squad....... we'll certainly see how it plays out though.

 

[Rogue219]

Clemmings has been awful in preseason, and Bars playing spot duty at OT in the Colts game should've solidified his roster spot. Mustipher on the other hand may be looking at the practice squad....... we'll certainly see how it plays out though.

A healthy Coward looks like their best option.

I hope Bars makes the team and I hope he can stay healthy to not only play but have better quality of life as he gets older and is done playing. His young body has been through way too much already.

 

[OCIrish]

I honestly don't think so. I think Bars, having played for HH at ND, has the more upside......Bars at the very least knows how to play both positions, whereas Coward is still making the transition to OL. He could end up being a pretty good player, but it's still gonna take time for him to learn, and even longer when he's injured.

 

[ND4LIFE]

The Bears waived Bars today. I think someone may pick him up. Love to see him and Mustipher make the practice squad. Damn it man!!!

 

[Irish YJ]

The Bears waived Bars today. I think someone may pick him up. Love to see him and Mustipher make the practice squad. Damn it man!!!

Would love to see the Colts grab him. They only kept 8 OL on the 53, and I know Ballard likes to keep 10 normally. I'm sure we'll pick up at least one OL along with a QB.

 

[Legacy]

Signed to the Bears practice squad - as was Mustipher

 

[Irishize]

Signed off the Bears practice squad w/ a chance to get some game reps.

 

[T-Boone]

Great.

 

[Crazy Balki]

He would be a massive upgrade over Long.

I say that with 100% certainty, because a turnstile would be an upgrade over Long right now.

 

[T-Boone]

He would be a massive upgrade over Long.

I say that with 100% certainty, because a turnstile would be an upgrade over Long right now.

You want him to coach our offense? I just don't think he is ready.

 

[Legacy]

Alex Bars rejected Patriots to remain with Bears Oct 8, 2019

 

[ulukinatme]

Very interesting decision. Staying on the Bears practice squad rather than going to New England's active roster?

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

Very interesting decision. Staying on the Bears practice squad rather than going to New England's active roster?

He has already been activated for the Bears, so he might have known that was coming. Plus, staying with HH at the Bears might provide more stability than going to the Pats where there is no connection or investment so they might cut him quicker.