Chicago Bears banking on better speed to bolster a defense that's still adjusting to new lineup

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — During a Thursday training camp practice when Caleb Williams had difficulty finding an incompletion, the Chicago Bears also had to face the downside.

As great as their quarterback’s accuracy looked to all points on the field during the scrimmage, he threw the passes against their first-team secondary. That's supposed to be their defensive strength.

The Bears defense struggled mightily much of last year at stopping the run, rushing the passer and staying healthy, but the one thing it could do was intercept passes. Now, a rebuilt secondary might need time to pull together, and it's questionable whether it actually improved at rushing the passer or stopping the run. It may need another big takeaway year like last season when it picked off 23 passes and recovered 10 fumbles.

“You’ve got to live it every day,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said about takeaways. “You get the things that you emphasize. So that’s part of the culture of our defense, that runs through the vein of our defense and we have to practice that way every single day.

“That has to be the mindset. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but if you don’t have that mindset, then they’re not coming.”

At the outset of practices, the Bears have two different safeties in veteran Coby Bryant and rookie Dillon Thieneman, and they have shuffled through three or four players at nickel cornerback with Kyler Gordon out because of a calf muscle injury.

Bryant, the former Seattle Seahawks safety, brings speed and another asset to their secondary.

“The biggest thing I want to do is be known for energy,” Bryant said. “That’s something that I always want to be known for. I feel like it can be contagious and like I said, just bring other guys along with me as well. That’s something I want to do.”

Even if they do manage to pull together the secondary and challenge last year’s takeaway totals, they haven’t improved pass rush personnel. They started camp with top pass rusher Montez Sweat out because of illness, but he quickly recovered in time to practice Thursday. The surprise they’ve had is defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo’s availability after his season ended with an Achilles tendon tear in early November.

“It’s super impressive how hard he’s fought back to come back and come and be able to start off training camp,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “Had a super tough injury to come back from. Having walked that road before I know the mental toll it does take on you. I’m super proud of him being back ready for training camp and I’m excited for the best things to come for him.

“I mean, he’s a grinder. He works every day to put his best foot forward. He’s going to help us. We’re going to need him back.”

Yet, Odeyingbo had only one sack in his first Bears season before his midseason injury. It’s why no one would be surprised to see general manager Ryan Poles add a free agent pass rusher or trade for one to complement Sweat and blossoming edge Austin Booker.

Allen says they’ll get better as pass rushers another way.

“Mechanics, we’re looking for pass rush mechanics,” Allen said. “It’s hard to evaluate a lot of stuff when you’re practicing in underwear. So, we’ll be able to have a better feel of what we got in the run game, what we have in the passing game when we start putting on the pads. That’s where you really kind of determine what you have.”

In a few days they’ll have pads on and will be looking for tackles Gervon Dexter and Jarrett and linebacker addition Devin Bush to improve a defense ranked 27th stopping the run in 2025. Like Bryant, Bush was a player they brought in as a free agent for one main reason.

“I think one of the things that we’ve looked at is we’re trying to improve our team speed, and I think he’s a guy that can do that for us,” Allen said.

Having cornerback Jaylon Johnson back healthy after an injury-plagued 2025 and the return of T.J. Edwards from a season-ending broken leg later in camp should further improve personnel, but overall problems with personnel on the defensive line and new players in the secondary could persist until proven otherwise.

Thursday’s problems stopping the pass were an example.

“The guys that we’ve got on the field right now are super, highly talented, play a lot of good football and are uniquely blessed with lot of speed and the ability to cover guys at another level and also be good rushers to help us up front as well,” Jarrett said. “I think we’re going to be a unit that works really well together."

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