3 things the Chicago Bears are watching as they prepare for the Baltimore Ravens

Bears win four straight, Packers practice in an airport, Vikings stumble | 1st & North

On this episode of “1st & North,” Lou Canellis and other NFC North insiders break down a wild week across the division. The Bears win their fourth straight, and it feels different this year. The Lions shut down the Bucs, the Packers practiced in the airport, and the Vikings ran into a buzzsaw.

The Chicago Bears have their eyes out.

With this weekend's game against the Baltimore Ravens approaching, there are a few uncertainties about the Bears' opponent. Such as, who's playing quarterback?

Bears head coach Ben Johnson touched on it all as he opened the week's worth of practices gearing up for a trip to Baltimore.

Here are three things we learned the Bears are watching as they prepare for the Baltimore Ravens this week.

Lamar Jackson:

The Bears don't have much choice but to wait and see.

The Ravens' best player, two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury. In the games he's missed, the Ravens only mustered 13 points with Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntly at quarterback.

Even the Ravens are still waiting in the wings with their superstar.

"It’s hard to put a number on it," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Wednesday. "I don’t have any shareable injury intelligence."

Still, Johnson said he's preparing for if the Bears will face Jackson.

"That's our starting point," Johnson said.

Jackson practiced with the Ravens on Wednesday. It was the first time he had practiced with the Ravens since Week 4 before he injured his hamstring in a loss to the Chiefs.

The Bears have never had to face Jackson. The last time the Bears played the Ravens was in the 2021 season, when the Bears hosted the Ravens at Soldier Field. Jackson missed that game, but Huntley led the Ravens to a 16-13 win with a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

Still, Jackson would be one of the most difficult players the Bears would have to scheme for this season.

Roquan Smith:

The Bears need no introduction for Roquan Smith. He was the linebacker that led the Bears' defense for four seasons under Matt Nagy's defenses and for two games under Matt Eberflus before being traded to the Ravens for a draft pick.

Johnson said his offense needs to be aware of where the former Bear is at all times.

"He is fast," Johnson said of the former Bears' linebacker. "He diagnoses quickly. See ball, get ball. Sideline to sideline."

Smith was a two-time second-team All-Pro player with the Bears, but has been a three-time first-team All-Pro player in each of his three seasons since joining the Ravens.

In a Sept. 14 win over the Browns, Smith had a fumble return for a touchdown, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. He has the extra motivation to play his former team, but Smith dismissed that storyline.

"It’s about me doing my job to the best of my ability," Smith told reporters in Baltimore earlier this week.

The Bears have finally gotten their run game going. Smith offers a deterrent to that success. The Beare are well aware of that.

"We're going to have to do our best to cover him up," Johnson said. "He is playing at a super high level."

Underachieving Ravens:

The Ravens have made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. Last year, they lost a 27-25 heartbreaker in the Divisional round to the Buffalo Bills.

The year before that, the Ravens fell to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

The book on the Ravens is simple: They're a really good football team with a history of sustained success under a Super Bowl-winning coach.

"The record doesn't indicate what they're capable of doing," Johnson said.

At 1-5, the Ravens have to climb a mountain to get back into the playoff picture in a competitive AFC. They have so much to prove this weekend against the Bears, and it starts with getting Jackson back in the lineup.

Johnson, however, believes the Bears have much to prove, too.

"I don’t think we’ve played a collective 60 minutes as a team," Johnson said. "I think that will be a beautiful thing when that happens."

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