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Chicago rookies were scheduled to arrive for training camp on Monday and while the vast majority of the new Bears made it in, one player was notably absent from the festivities.
Roquan Smith, the eighth overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft, has decided against reporting for rookie training camp this week until he has signed his first NFL contract. While the Bears’ rookies were scheduled to report on Monday, veterans are not scheduled to arrive until Thursday. According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Smith’s absence will not technically be considered a holdout until that July 19 date.
Arguably the nation’s best defender last season, Smith took home the Butkus Award — given annually to the nation’s best defender — and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year after helping the Bulldogs to the SEC Championship, a Rose Bowl Playoff win over Oklahoma and a berth in the National Championship Game.
#Bears first-round LB Roquan Smith is not with the team as the rookies report for training camp today, sources say. It’s not officially a holdout until the veterans are due on July 19, but Smith doesn’t have a deal yet. So he’s staying away until it happens.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 16, 2018
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
