[52] Four days later, five-time Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson and tight end Jeron Mastrud were acquired,[53] and were the final acquisitions by the Bears prior to Training Camp.

Additionally, Smith wrote the Bears could target a running back or quarterback with mid- to late-round draft picks, such as De'Anthony Thomas and James White, and Tom Savage, respectively.

[87] At the end of the camp, punter Drew Butler was waived,[88] while tryout players Senorise Perry, a running back from Louisville, and North Texas safety Marcus Trice were signed.

On August 4, Jeffery, Britton, Conte, Steltz, and Draughn did not practice, while Lance Briggs bruised a knee;[102] the first major injury of Training Camp was Marquess Wilson's broken clavicle.

[127] In the preseason opener against the Eagles, Craig Steltz, Tim Jennings, Isaiah Frey, Chris Conte, Eben Britton, Jordan Mills, Jared Allen, Kyle Long, and Martellus Bennett did not participate.

[129] Against Jacksonville, Marquess Wilson, Steltz, Isaiah Frey, Conte, Britton, Brian de la Puente, Mills, Williams, Rosario and Young were scratched from the game-day roster.

[134] On the latter play's ensuing kickoff, Eric Weems fumbled, and the ball was recovered by Will Blackmon;[135] Jacksonville would capitalize on the recovery, with Chad Henne's six-yard touchdown pass to Marqise Lee.

[179] John McMullen of The Miami Herald assigned grades for each position group but the quarterbacks entering the season, the highest being a B+ for the wide receivers and offensive line, while the lowest being a C+ for the linebackers and special teams.

[194] Afterwards, Cutler was intercepted by former Bear Corey Graham after Bennett did not "turn to look for the ball in time",[195] with the Bills again capitalizing on the takeaway, with Manuel's seven-yard touchdown pass to Spiller, and the half ended with Buffalo leading 17–7.

Gore would then score on a 54-yard run, which was nullified by a holding call on Boldin, and two plays later, Kaepernick was stripped by Jared Allen, and the ball was recovered by Danny McCray, but the Bears would again be forced to punt.

[214] Additionally, the passing attack would have to defend against the rush, with the Jets blitzing 75 percent of the time;[215] New York had recorded 47 sacks since week one of 2013, tied for the 10th most in the league, while Pro Football Focus ranked Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson as the top 12 pass-rushing 3–4 defensive ends in the NFL, with Quinton Coples having the most QB pressures of a 3–4 OLB with ten.

[214] the Bears led the league in completions of four yards or more on first down with 21,[215] and despite injuries to Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery,[214] the passing game could have a chance against a secondary that struggled in the previous week against the Packers.

[216] The Bears' captains were Cutler, Lance Briggs, and Danny McCray,[217] while Sherrick McManis, Shea McClellin, Roberto Garza, Matt Slauson, Charles Leno, and Trevor Scott were not active.

In the third quarter, the Packers drove to the Bears' 34-yard line, where Rodgers completed a touchdown pass to Davante Adams, which would be nullified by a holding penalty on center Corey Linsley; Crosby would eventually kick a 53-yard field goal.

[238] On the next drive, Shields intercepted Cutler, and Crosby kicked a 23-yard field goal; however, a holding penalty on Jon Bostic led to Rodgers' three-yard touchdown pass to Cobb.

[260] Brandon Marshall, Danny McCray, and Tim Jennings served as the Bears' captains,[261] while Sherrick McManis, Ahmad Dixon, Shea McClellin, Lance Briggs, Jon Bostic, D. J. Williams, and Jermon Bushrod were inactive.

[272] Terrance Mitchell, Ahmad Dixon, Chris Conte, Lance Briggs, Jon Bostic, Charles Leno, and Trevor Scott were scratches for the game,[273] while Jermon Bushrod, Brandon Marshall, Robbie Gould, Ryan Mundy and Jeremiah Ratliff were team captains.

After both teams exchanged punts, the Bears' drive, which went into the final quarter, reached the Packers' 18-yard line, but Cutler's pass for Matt Forte[298] hit Kyle Long's head, and bounced into Casey Hayward's hands, who scored on the 82-yard return.

After the Vikings punted,[309] the Bears' following drive was ended when Cutler, attempting to avoid pressure from Johnson, had his pass for Martellus Bennett intercepted by Harrison Smith, who returned the pick 52 yards to the Chicago 27-yard line.

On defense, the Bears would have to apply pressure: when blitzed, the Buccaneers' quarterbacks have the second-worst statistics in the league, consisting of a 57.6 passer rating, four touchdowns, seven interceptions (McCown being responsible for four) and nine sacks.

The Bucs would commit three turnovers in the second half as McCown lost a fumble on a David Bass sack and threw an interception to Ryan Mundy, and Jackson was stripped by Tim Jennings.

[327] Chicago, who had struggled in the first quarter as they were outscored 41–0 in the period in their last six games, saw early success as they forced a Detroit punt before scoring on their opening drive with Jay Cutler's ten-yard touchdown to Alshon Jeffery.

[328] Matt Prater made a 46-yard field goal, but a Jared Allen forced fumble on Matthew Stafford led to Cutler throwing a six-yard score to Jeffery to put the Bears up 14–3.

[331] Robbie Gould, who suffered a quad injury, was among the seven Bears inactive for the games as he joined Terrance Mitchell, Khaseem Greene, Darryl Sharpton, Eben Britton, Jeremiah Ratliff, and Cornelius Washington.

For the Bears defense, Joniak focused on containing Mark Ingram II, who had four 100-yard rushing games in 2014, and Drew Brees, who was completing 69.3 percent of his throws and was close to breaking 4,000 passing yards for the ninth straight year.

On defense, he emphasized the ability to "compete with fire" to stop Teddy Bridgewater, who had four straight games with at least 70 percent of his passes completed, and Matt Asiata, who was second in the league with nine rushing touchdowns.

Joniak concluded his article by noting the overall message should be maintaining effort as the Bears completed "one of the most frustrating and perplexing seasons in recent franchise history with unfulfilled expectations devolving into uncertainty for 2015.

[350] In a low-scoring affair, the Vikings scored the only points of the first quarter with Blair Walsh's 37-yard field goal; Bridgewater had thrown a 35-yard touchdown to Greg Jennings early in the drive, but the pass was ruled incomplete.

[352] Minnesota would reach Chicago's three on the next series, but were stopped on fourth down; the Bears also suffered the same fate when Cutler's fourth-and-nine pass to Martellus Bennett fell short by a yard.

[359] In his 2014 season report card, ESPN.com's Michael C. Wright wrote "Trestman undoubtedly fractured the relationship with the quarterback, but the move called into question general manager Phil Emery's skills as a personnel evaluator.