Preseason is a weird time to be an NFL fan. On the one hand, it's football, and football is great. On the other, it's not the best football; it's filled with players on the roster bubble running a vanilla scheme both offensively and defensively. Nonetheless, for the football junkies, it's something, including Chicago Bears fans. The Bears faced and lost to the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.

Though few Bears popped off the box score with individual statistics, several had excellent performances on Thursday; including these three (in no particular order).

Josh Woods – ILB

Inside linebacker Josh Woods had himself a night on Thursday. The linebacker tallied five solo tackles, read a play to stop a screen, and recorded a forced fumble on Panthers running back Elijah Holyfield. His tackles finished second on the team, his 44 snaps third for defenders, and 14 snaps on special teams third total.

An undrafted safety out of Maryland in 2018, the Bears gave Woods a shot last year and converted him to linebacker while playing on the practice squad. His defensive back instincts showed on Thursday; so did the coaching staff's effort to get him up to snuff.

To convert successfully to linebacker, Woods spent the past year getting his body to a reported 235-pounds. Inside linebackers coach Mark Deleone likes what he sees out of Woods going forward and his progression, as he said via Chicago Tribune‘s Brad Biggs,

“He’s big. He’s fine right now. He’s done a great job of changing his body and carrying that weight that he still has the great explosion and the burst.”

That explosion and burst showed Thursday night. He'll have to continue to show it off to make a loaded depth chart at inside linebacker.

Elliott Fry – K

If you don't know about the Bears' kicking woes, you probably shouldn't be reading this article. But, I'll catch you up; last year's kicker Cody Parkey missed a game-winning field goal in last year's playoffs. We'll leave it at that.

The Bears have reused, recycled, and thrown away many kickers since, and carried Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro into the preseason to settle the positional battle. The former showed the most potential to make the roster; as he started the game; made his lone PAT and drilled a 43-yard field goal attempt.

The field goal attempt was no ordinary one. Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is all too aware of the Bears' kicking situation and decided to ice Fry to see if he can handle the pressure. It turns out; Fry handled it well — albeit in the preseason. Rivera said, via NFL.com's Adam Maya,

“You know what is funny, I did that [calling a timeout unnecessarily] to help the Bears because they are in a kicking contest.”

Oddly enough, Fry drilled a 43-yarder after being iced. Parkey's missed field goal came on a 43-yarder, after being iced — though Parkey faced more pressure at the time. So far, Fry is leading the kicking battle.

David Montgomery – RB

Six touches. That's all David Montgomery needed to prove his worth as a third-round pick. The running back rushed the ball three times for 16 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 30 yards before being pulled out. 46 scrimmage yards and a touchdown isn't particularly impressive, but the fashion in which he did it was.

In all facets, Montgomery looked like a pro. In open space, he was lethal, catching the ball, he had no issues, in the red zone, his power and one-cut ability were used well. Simply put, the rookie looked like a man amongst boys in his first live NFL action.

Preseason ball is a time to see glimpses of a rookie's potential. Montgomery did just that. The running back may be a force for a long time, and, at this rate, could be a starter as soon as week one. Coming out of Iowa State, he looked the part of a bell-cow back; that hasn't changed after taking NFL snap.