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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears rebuilt their front seven on defense. They gave their offensive line a makeover, too. And they also got hit with a rash of injuries.Between players going down and poor play in general, it was a rough preseason for a team trying to pick itself up after finishing last in the NFC North at 6-10.On the positive side for the Bears? Teams have a history of making big jumps in their second season under coach John Fox.Carolina did it. So did Denver. And the Chicago is hoping the pattern holds.The Bears have been plagued by injuries and at least two important players might be limited or unavailable for the opener at Houston on Sept. 11: star right guard Kyle Long (shoulder) and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, who had offseason knee surgery.There are also concerns in the secondary, and the offense is missing two of its top contributors from last season after Chicago parted with running back Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett.Besides all that, they released Robbie Gould and ended an 11-year run with the most accurate kicker in franchise history while upgrading their offensive line by signing three-time Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton on Sunday night.Here are some things to look for this season:CATCHING UP: The Bears will finally get to see just how just how dynamic a receiving tandem Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White can be. They never got that chance last season.The 6-foot-3, 216-pound White missed his rookie season because of a stress fracture in his left shin after being drafted with the seventh overall pick. But with his size and physical skills, Chicago is counting on big things from the West Virginia product.Hes an explosive guy, Cutler said. You can see hes a physical specimen. So well just find ways to get him the ball in space and kind of let him catch and run and use that speed and that burst hes got.Jeffery led the team in receiving, but there are questions about his ability to stay healthy, not to mention his future with the club.Calf, hamstring, groin and shoulder problems limited the former Pro Bowl receiver to nine games last season after he played in all 16 the previous two years. A strained hamstring in training camp only raised more questions.Jeffery is also playing under the franchise tag after he and the Bears were unable to agree to a long-term contract extension.LINING UP: Quarterback Jay Cutler should be happy after the Bears signed Sitton. After all, Chicago now has two elite guards.With Sitton at left guard, rookie Cody Whitehair could slide to center. Veteran Ted Larsen, who took over when Hroniss Grasu tore the ACL in his right knee in early August, is another option.A healthy and effective Long would also take some pressure off new right tackle Bobby Massie as well as the center. Long is back at guard, the position he played his first two seasons, after filling in at right tackle last year.UP FRONT: While the defense made strides in its first year under Fox and coordinator Vic Fangio, the Bears were inconsistent and lacked playmakers. They tied for 22nd against the run, 22nd in sacks and 30th in interceptions.Chicago is hoping that changes with the additions of 336-pound defensive end Akiem Hicks, inside linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Danny Trevathan, and No. 9 overall draft pick Leonard Floyd at outside linebacker.PROVING TIME: With two-time Pro Bowler Forte and the colorful Bennett gone, the Bears are banking on players who are unproven or have injury histories to fill the voids.Jeremy Langford, who had 537 yards rushing and 279 receiving as a rookie, leads a committee that includes KaDeem Carey, Jacquizz Rodgers and fifth-round pick Jordan Howard.At tight end, the Bears are counting on Zach Miller staying healthy -- no sure thing given his history. The veteran earned a two-year contract after he re-established himself last season by catching 34 passes for 439 yards and a team-leading five touchdown receptions. Miller also missed the 2012, `13 and `14 seasons because of injuries and spent much of the preseason in the NFLs concussion protocol.SMOOTH TRANSITION: The Bears maintained some continuity for Cutler when offensive coordinator Adam Gase took the Miami Dolphins coaching job by promoting quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains. That was hardly a surprise.Cutler had one of his best seasons for Chicago, posting a career-high 92.3 rating and cutting his interceptions from 18 to 11 in 15 games.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Anders Hedberg Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Carl Soderberg Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. https://www.cheapcoyotes.com/1128z-darcy-kuemper-jersey-coyotes.html . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. Jakob Chychrun Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Bobby Hull Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Rio -- Indias seven-member badminton team begin their Rio campaign on Thursday, with both the doubles combinations and the three singles players across the mens and womens categories in action.Although this is Indias largest ever ever badminton contingent at an Olympics, with as many as seven players having qualified, medal hopes rest largely on Saina Nehwal.Saina, who is at her third Olympics, having reached the quarterfinals in Beijing in 2008 and won a bronze in London in 2012, has been in Rio since Monday, training at the Riocentro facility with her coach Vimal Kumar.There has not been so much hype as far as badminton is concerned so that has helped and she can focus, Vimal told ESPN. There is absolutely no pressure. The group stages should give her the momentum, the two matches there should not be much of an issue. Shes enjoying herself.Sainas lung opener is against 20-year old local player Vicente Lohaynny, ranked 73rd in the world. Players in the badminton competition have been drawn into groups of three and Saina will come up against another lesser known player, 61st ranked Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in her second match later.She is expected to ease past these these two, but the draw starts getting trickier with her pre-quarterfinals opponent likely to be Thailands Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, who is currently ranked 16. Saina has won 9 of the 10 matches between the pair, making her the overwhelming favorite to win that encounter too.Vimal is not looking beyond that match, scheduled for August 15, because if Saina gets past the Thai girl, her likely quarterfinal opponent will be Chinas Li Xuerui. The world number three won gold at the last Olympics in London and leads Saina 12-2 in their career head-to-head. Saina has lost her last eight matches to Xuerui, a streak that goes back to 2012.ddddddddddddIn practice sessions, we did do a lot of work about playing her, Kumar said. But our idea is to take one match at a time. At the moment we are not thinking about Li Xureui but definitely Saina has worked on certain strategies. We discussed about the tactics against quite a few of her potential rivals.We have been able to do some sort of match analysis in our training and stroke routines, based on those players. So everything is in place, now it all depends on that particular day. This is her third Olympic games, she has that experience and thats a big plus factor.Before arriving for the Games, Saina insisted that she will be approaching the Olympics just like any other major event on the circuit, describing it in one media interaction as the Rio Super series. It is a strategy Kumar is completely on board with, calling it is a smart way to ease the pressure.With Sainas ankle injury having healed fully, the build-up has been near perfect. Saina won her last tournament, the Australian Open, in June and has put in the hard yards in Bangalore over the last few weeks to prepare for another push to the Olympic podium.She has been able to train pain free, some small aches and pains are always there but when shes moving well and attack and play her normal game rather than get into a stage where you just have to retrieve, Kumar says.That only happens when you are moving well and if she is doing that, then I am very confident. Considering the way she has beaten some of these big girls in the recent past, her experience and her high confidence, I feel she is a strong medal contender. ' ' '