3 Chicago Bears starting Week 1 on thin ice — despite making the roster

The NFL is a battleground, not only in the trenches, but off the field, as well. Fans know the stars on their favorite teams, but often overlooked beyond the Caleb Williamses, DJ Moores and Montez Sweats of the world is the fight for NFL survival among players who aren't household names.

Other than what fans see in preseason games, most of these battles take place off-screen. For the Chicago Bears, though, this season is a bit different, as the storied franchise's inclusion on Hard Knocks has given the spotlight to a few players who might otherwise be anonymous. This has gotten fans invested in more than just how Caleb Williams absorbs the playbook or Keenan Allen acclimates to Chicago. Now we wanted to see if Adrian Colbert or Reddy Steward could make the team. We cheered when Austin Reed threw a touchdown in front of his parents and cried along with rookie running back Ian Wheeler and his mother when he tore his ACL in the preseason finale.

General manager Ryan Poles recently completed the unenviable task of paring the roster down to 53 players in advance of Week 1, and sadly, neither Colbert, Steward, Reed nor Wheeler made the cut. Poles has done a tremendous job in upgrading the Bears' overall talent level from a team that "earned" the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft two seasons ago to one that is expected to contend for a playoff spot this year.

One unfortunate side effect of the Bears' upgraded roster is that even those players who impressed in camp had to be left off the team. For the fortunate 53 that made it, however, their work is just beginning. From the top of the roster on down, everybody has something to prove. Jaylon Johnson played like the best cornerback in football last year, and he received a huge upgrade in pay this offseason. Can he continue locking down one side of the field? Can Caleb Williams prove that he really is the franchise savior that Bears fans have coveted for decades? Can Darnell Wright and Tyrique Stevenson prove that their stellar rookie seasons were no fluke? The list goes on and on.

Today we'll be looking at the players that survived cut day but still need to keep one eye looking over their shoulder and one eye on the prize. These players did enough to make the team, but the way they perform in the first few weeks of the season will determine if they have a chance to be a more permanent part of the Bears' plans going forward.

Velus Jones Jr. needs to make the most of his second opportunity

Hard Knocks viewers have been captivated by the battle between Velus Jones Jr. and Ian Wheeler this preseason. The race for one of the final roster spots seemed too close to call, but it came to a heartbreaking end with Wheeler's devastating injury. Now, Jones needs to take his opportunity and (literally) run with it.

Jones has been something of a punchline since being drafted by the Bears in the fourth round two years ago because he just can't seem to get out of his own way. Holding onto the football has been his issue, and it's kept him from taking advantage of his outstanding speed, both as a kick returner and a wide receiver.

The additions of Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze have all but extinguished Jones' hopes of lining up at wideout, but a willingness to change positions has given him a new lease on life. Jones has been taking snaps as a running back in the preseason, and he looked explosive and confident in taking 13 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs.

With D'Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson already filling up the running back room, opportunities for Jones may be scarce there as well, but his speed and open-field running ability could make him impossible to ignore. The NFL's new kickoff rule could also give him more chances to make his mark in the return game.

Add it all up and Jones may not get more than a handful of opportunities a game to show his stuff, but he needs to make the most of them to stay on the roster this year and beyond.

Nate Davis needs to make up for lost time

Bears fans have had a tumultuous relationship with right guard Nate Davis. Signed last offseason to a three-year, $30 million contract, the former Titan's arrival was meant to signal that the Bears were finally serious about pouring resources into the offensive line.

The line is much improved from a year ago, but that's mostly due to the presence of Teven Jenkins, Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones, and has little to do with Davis, who mostly disappointed in 11 starts last year. They say you play like you practice, which makes sense because Davis has missed a lot of practice time since coming to Chicago. He started last year by missing time for personal reasons, then injured his ankle later in the year, which kept him out for about a month.

Davis' availability hasn't improved this offseason, as he's mostly been on the shelf with a nagging groin injury. Bears fans have already had enough excuses, and Matt Eberflus put Davis on notice when he said that players could be in danger of losing their jobs if they're injured and someone else impresses.

Davis has one year left on his contract after this season, and the Bears would take only a $2 million cap hit by cutting him. That means that it's put up or shut up time for the veteran. Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the new and improved Bears offense can't afford to be laid low by someone who can't stay on the field and doesn't meet expectations when he does. Davis' contract might have single-handedly kept him on the team for now, but he's on very thin ice.

Tyler Scott had a quiet rookie season, but it's time for him to make some noise in Year 2

It may seem like eons ago, but it was actually only two years ago that Darnell Mooney was the top receiver on the Bears. No shade to Mooney, who landed in a good spot as the Falcons' number two receiver this offseason, but the Bears have come a long way since that point.

DJ Moore, acquired in Ryan Poles' magnum opus of a trade with the Panthers, put up one of the best receiving seasons in Bears history last year. Now he has help in the form of six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen and ninth overall pick Rome Odunze. Suddenly, and for the first time since Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were paired together, the Bears have one of the best sets of receivers in the NFL.

This is all great news for the Bears' offense but seems not-so-great for second-year receiver Tyler Scott, who was mostly invisible in his rookie season. Scott managed just 17 catches and 168 yards after being selected in the fourth round out of Cincinnati, and with the three aforementioned receivers and tight end Cole Kmet set to soak up most of Caleb Williams' targets, it would be fair to wonder where an unproven player like Scott fits in.

In reality, this is the perfect opportunity for Scott to make his mark in the league. Williams is a phenomenal deep-ball thrower, and Scott's specialty in college was taking the top off the defense. At a minimum, Scott's speed should keep defenses honest and open up space for the precision route-running of Moore, Allen and Odunze, but if that's all the Bears required from their fourth receiver, they could just plug Velus Jones in to do that.

Like Jones, Scott could get opportunities in the return game, but his six catches for 99 yards against the Chiefs showed that he has the talent to make a difference as a receiver, too. The Bears don't need Scott to catch 100 balls, or even half that number. If he can get behind the defense five or six times this year for one of Williams' patented bombs, that will be more than enough to earn his keep.