
New Number, Same Dog: Grady Jarrett hungry to lead Bears defense |
CHICAGO - For the past 10 years, defensive lineman Grady Jarrett has played at an elite level for the Atlanta Falcons. Now, he will play his first season with the Chicago Bears.
While he is focused on making the most of his time left in the NFL, Jarrett is also grateful to be in the league this long. “At this point, at this current moment, I’m so focused on just really moving forward and chasing what’s still out there for me in this organization … Just making it past 10 seasons is a blessing within itself and to be able to step on the other side of 10 and be able to play for season 11 is another blessing and I’m just going to continue to get better every year and that’s going to be my goal day-in and day-out and work harder than I ever have to be my best version. I’m still chasing that everyday, still chasing that everyday,” Jarrett said. “So, have the opportunity to chase the best version of myself. Is going to be what’s best, to be (my) best as an addition to this team and so, that’s what I’m excited about really. But, I think the reflecting is over with and I’m in current grind-now mode to be able to really go to work. It’s time, work time, training camp time … We got work to do and it’s time to go forward and that’s what I’m excited for.” For the first season in Chicago, Jarrett will be working with a familiar face - defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. While the two were never on the same team, Jarrett saw a lot of Allen’s defenses from the 10 years Allen coached Atlanta’s division rival, the New Orleans Saints, as their defensive coordinator and head coach. “I competed against him for so many years, playing against him when I was in Atlanta. But, I’m not surprised by anything. Just the grittiness, the attention to detail, the knowledge of knowing what everybody should be doing from front to back and how it all works together and communicating to (us) as a defense what his expectations are on a daily basis has been something that I’ve really been (appreciative of) and it definitely just going to make us all better. But, he’s definitely somebody who’s as hungry as ever just to go out there and compete and play football and (have) some players that’s ready to go out there and hunt for him,” Jarrett said. “So, he challenges us everyday and he (is not) making it easy on us and not babying us as far as what he expects us to learn for the defense, what he (wants) to call and (that) raises the expectation for guys, all (those) involved), to know that he (is) not going (to) call things that make us comfortable. He wants to run (the) defense a certain way and he (is) going to make sure his players (go) out there to be able to do it.” Last season, Chicago’s run defense struggled mightily after defensive lineman Andrew Billings was out for the season. The Bears allowed the fifth-most rushing yards out of any defense last season and gave up 20 rushing touchdowns. That is part of why Jarrett was brought in - to help stop the run. “You got to stop the run to be able to try to get out there, rush the passer. So, I think it really (comes) down to our fundamentals and understanding why coach going to call certain plays, certain fronts and we got to master these things and know not only what our job is, but we got to do our job with the best ability so our teammate can do their best job and it’s just going to be a mindset. It’s a mindset to stop the run,” Jarrett said. “We play in (the) toughest division in football, which is a great challenge and (I’m) super excited for that because however best it’s going to get, it’s not going to get (much) better (than) in this building. We got some great offensive linemen to go against up in the front. So, as a defense, we’re going to be trained up really well to try to stop this offense that we’re going to face everyday, to be able to go out there and try to line up against everybody to stop the run. But, like you said, it’s a critical, critical point of emphasis and something that we definitely know the importance of and we’re going to attack it everyday.” Jarrett will also provide something else the Chicago defense was lacking last season - a vocal leader. Throughout his career, he has been known as a leader in the locker room and someone who talks a lot of trash on the football field. “I speak when I need to speak. But, at the end of the day, how I see myself, it really don’t really matter,” Jarrett said. “I just got to go out there and be my best self everyday and that’s what I’m going to do and hopefully, that breeds positivity and encouragement amongst my teammates and that’s what it’s really about. But, for me to say that I see myself as this and that, that’s not really my story to tell.”