LONDON — The Bears are up 14-3 on the Jaguars at halftime in London as they look for their third consecutive win — a streak they last hit in 2020.
After falling behind 3-0 early, they answered with a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Caleb Williams to tight end Cole Kmet, who broke two tackles on his way to the end zone. Kmet, by the way, is filling in at long snapper after Scott Daly left the game late in the first quarter with a knee injury, and everything went fine on the extra point for a 7-3 lead.
After two big scrambles on a drive near halftime, Williams hit Kmet again for a two-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left.
Williams has completed 12 of 15 passes for 128 yards and has a 114.0 passer rating at halftime.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, meanwhile, is 9 of 12 for 82 yards and an 93.1 rating.
The Jaguars get the ball to begin the second half.
On the offensive line, left guard Teven Jenkins started and is playing through bruised ribs and an ankle injury, while right guard Nate Davis is a healthy scratch.
Davis has been an ongoing frustration for the Bears since signing him to a three-year, $30 million deal last year. He didn’t participate in Organized Team Activities, which are optional but typically attended unless a player is hurt or in a contract dispute, and they’ve continued to have trouble keeping him on the field.
“It’s been a little up-and-down there,” general manager Ryan Poles said last week. “Nate has some things that he can continue to work on.”
The team can get out of the final season of Davis’ contract for a dead-salary-cap hit of $2 million, as opposed to paying him $11.5 million in 2025.
The Bears ruled out staring cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who injured his calf in practice Thursday.
Here are their inactives for the game:
OL Nate Davis
RB Velus Jones
DT Zacch Pickens (groin)
DE Dominique Robinson
CB Terell Smith (hip)
CB Tyrique Stevenson (calf)
S Jaquan Brisker (concussion)
The Bears flew to England on Monday, arriving Tuesday morning, and set up temporary headquarters at Hanbury Manor in Ware, a countryside resort more than an hour outside London, for their week of practices and meetings.
“The facility we have here is really nice,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “It really felt to me like a training camp atmosphere, where guys were in the building, in there for lunch, hanging out together. In the evening we had food trucks. It was really like training camp. I thought the guys handled that really well.
“With the travel and setting everything up, [it was] seamless for the players. This environment that we’re in is really good, really conducive for preparation, because it’s all ball here. There’s limited distractions, and the staff did a really good job of getting this place ready.”
