(670 The Score) During the Bears' 17-13 win against the Giants on Sunday, two notable Chicago players saw drastically reduced roles.
Inside linebacker Danny Trevathan played just 31 of the Bears' 65 snaps on defense. Receiver Anthony Miller took the field for only 26 of the 65 snaps on offense. The Bears often ran sub-packages defensively, which included 25 plays with Deon Bush on the field as a third safety. As for Miller, he lost out on a bigger role to rookie receiver Darnell Mooney, who has impressed with his play early on.
Mooney played in 60% of the Bears' offensive plays Sunday, trailing only top receiver Allen Robinson and tight end Jimmy Graham for snaps by a skill player.
Bears coach Matt Nagy indicated part of those playing time figures were decided by certain personnel packages the team planned offensively and defensively throughout the course of the game, but they weren't far off course from the team's intention.
"We’re pretty close as to where we want it to be," Nagy said Monday. "We just got to see as we go how that fits, with guys like Danny on defense having some fewer reps and with guys like Anthony. It’s kinda a juggling act a little bit, which is OK."
Trevathan played 90% of the Bears' defensive snaps against the Lions in the season opener, a game in which he struggled at times. He then played 48% of the snaps Sunday.
Part of the Bears' reasoning for relying on Bush and the three-safety look was because the Giants were trailing 17-0 early in the second half. That coupled with the departure of star running back Saquon Barkley to a torn ACL put the Giants offense into more obvious passing situations.
The 25-year-old Miller had three targets but didn't record a reception. One of his targets was a pass from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to the end zone that went through Miller's hands in the first quarter. The Bears were forced to settle for a field goal after just missing on what would've been a touchdown. Miller had two targets after that.
"Mitch just threw a really good ball, and if (Miller) comes down with that, who knows confidence-wise how that turns for him the rest of the game," Nagy said. "But that’s a part of football, being able to bounce back after a drop.
"He’ll bounce back. I look forward to it. He’s a competitor. He cares and he wants to help the team win.”
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.