The first of three practices this week at Halas Hall took place on the field as the Chicago Bears kicked off their obligatory minicamp on Monday. With seasoned players like cornerback Jaylon Johnson and wide receiver Keenan Allen returned, the team enjoyed perfect attendance. However, several people were unable to take part in the drills.
Team practice was skipped by defensive end Montez Sweat, who also skipped his voluntary workouts. Thankfully, the squad decided to hold him out solely to assess his conditioning level.
Matt Eberflus said the hope is that Montez Sweat will get some team reps tomorrow. Sweat hadn't been at OTAs yet, so the Bears kept him out of team stuff today.
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) June 4, 2024
After practice, head coach Matt Eberflus informed the media, “We are checking on Sweat a little bit because we haven’t seen him in physical activity.” “He was in the building for the other stuff, but tomorrow he should be stepping it up and getting more team members in there as we move along.”
The Pro Bowl defensive end seems certain to make his way onto the field soon and that he doesn’t have any lingering injuries that would keep him from participating in team drills. But the same cannot be said for Nate Davis, the guard.
The second person who did not participate on Tuesday was Davis, who did not take part in OTAs either. He did not provide an explanation for his absence.
The Bears will play two more games on Wednesday and Thursday before taking one last vacation before training camp.
The Bears are enhancing Montez Sweat and passing rush in 2024 by incorporating distinctive D-line creases.
Chicago’s Lake Forest — Before the 2024 season, the Bears’ defensive line is the team’s biggest question mark going into training camp.
While edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue is still unsigned on the free agent market, the Bears saw defensive tackle Justin Jones go in free agency. This summer, general manager Ryan Poles only made a few small changes to the defensive line. Although they signed situational pass rusher Jacob Martin and selected edge rusher Austin Booker in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, the Bears haven’t made any additional moves in this regard.
Poles stated that after assessing the existing roster in pads, he and the front office will think about signing another seasoned defensive lineman during camp.
The Bears will start the season depending on DeMarcus Walker, Andrew Billings, and Gervon Dexter to provide the necessary disruption in front of Montez Sweat if they don’t sign another seasoned defensive lineman.
However, defensive coordinator Eric Washington and head coach Matt Eberflus have also been in the lab refining their rush strategy, which should aid Sweat and others around him even more.
Following practice on Tuesday, Washington declared, “We want to have flexibility.” We want flexibility where we can align [Sweat], I’ll say that. Instead of limiting his skill set to a single position, we want to use it against the offensive line. Firstly, I truly value his willingness to take on that task and his efforts to diversify his game as much as possible.”
The Bears are experimenting with switching Sweat from the left to the right side and kicking him inside to tackle when needed in an effort to gain more versatility. In his career, Sweat has played 3,395 snaps, but only 75 of those have been inside.
The Bears will be able to change the offensive line’s protection and give other line members more one-on-one opportunities by moving Sweat around the line.
Billings remarked, “Oh, it’s awesome,” regarding the idea to shuffle Sweat around. “The offensive line is unsure of their destination, but we are aware of it.” Like, okay, so he’s going to be on this side? Then, I currently have a one-on-one with this side. He’s going to be elsewhere, offensive line, so they’ll have to end the entire call. The defense needs to improve in that area, in my opinion, and we will. You see players like that on defense.”
However, Billings is also being tweaked by the Bears.
The Bears only have three defensive tackles that are guaranteed to make the 53-man roster: Billings, Dexter, and Zacch Pickens, since Jones left in free agency.
The Bears began Billings at nose tackle and Jones at three-technique last season. Pickens at nose and Dexter mostly at three-technique were substituted in.
However, the Bears want all three of their defensive tackles to be adaptable coming season, which includes Billings using three techniques when necessary.
“I’m playing three-technique a little bit this year, too, so I’m learning as I’m going,” Billings stated.
“It’s really more weight on my hands for me. My hands are first at the nose. Really, all I have to concentrate on right now is blowing up the guard instead of center.”
Billings, who had 23 pressures and an 11.7 pass-rush win rate the previous season, is a fan of this move.
“I enjoy it. Less rules, that’s what Billings grinned at.
This autumn, the Bears defense hopes to establish themselves as a premier group. They boast one of the NFL’s top back sevens. If Tyrique Stevenson, a cornerback in his second season, makes the anticipated improvement, that is a team that should improve.
However, the defensive capabilities of the Bears’ line will determine how far they can play. The Bears defense should be able to maintain the progress it made in the second half of the previous campaign if it can apply pressure with four.
To generate pressure, though, the Bears will have to rely on Eberflus’ vast bag of blitz packages if Sweat doesn’t receive assistance from Dexter, Billings, and Walker. That sort of worked last season, but the Bears defense really got going after Sweat showed up and they could reliably apply pressure with their front four.
In 2024, the Bears’ defensive line may prove to be its weakest point; however, Eberflus and Washington have a strategy to strengthen the pass rush so that it will be more effective even if Poles decides not to sign another veteran during camp.
The way those creases turn out may ultimately determine whether the Bears live up to or beyond high expectations this season.
