Next Man Up: Bears defense prepares for Lamar Jackson

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - Chicago’s defense, led by defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, has been paramount in each of the Bears’ four wins this season. They lead the league in turnovers with 16 total, 15 of them coming in the past four games.

However, they will be shorthanded once again as cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson (shoulder) and Kyler Gordon (groin/calf) will be unavailable for Chicago’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens on Sun. Oct. 26 (Noon / CBS). Tight end Cole Kmet (back), running back Roschon Johnson (back), and offensive lineman Braxton Jones (knee) have also been ruled out.

Despite all the injuries, Allen is confident this defense will respond, given all of the progress they have made, and because of the versatility on this defense.

“I think we’ve evolved a lot from where we started to where we’re at right now. I think anytime you have guys that can do multiple things, play different positions, I think that just allows you to be maybe a little bit more creative in terms of what you’re doing, and we have a few chess pieces on our defense that we can move around and put in different positions and do some different things with,” Allen said. “I think the work that our guys are putting in outside of the building, off the practice field, outside of when they’re in there with the coaches and meeting with the coaches. I think that’s been a key part of our ability to play better over this (last) four game stretch and that will continue to be a big part of what we do.”

Baltimore has been one of the better teams in the league for many years. In fact, they have only had one losing season in the past nine years. However, they have started this year 1-5, with their only win coming against the Cleveland Browns.

This record is not deceiving Allen, however, who said this team still has a lot of talent, particularly in the run game.

“Make no mistake about it. You watch tape, in particular offensively, this is a good football team. I think they run the ball exceptionally well,” Allen said. “They got an MVP quarterback, which makes it challenging, his ability to not only throw the football, but his ability also to run and create with his feet causes us a lot of problems and they’ve got skilled players all across the board. So, there’s a lot to have to contest with this week in a tough environment going up to Baltimore.”

A crucial part of their run game has been their MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson, who has not played since September. After being limited on Wednesday and Thursday, Jackson was a full participant in practice on Friday but is still officially questionable. Allen is preparing as if Jackson will be out there, which is quite difficult given how much of a dual threat Jackson is.

“There’s a lot of challenges that go along with that. You can get so paralyzed in terms of not wanting this guy to be a runner and all a sudden, now you have nothing in terms of a rush and he’s able to stand back there all day and throw the ball,” Allen said. “So, it’ll be a challenge for us in terms of how we have to rush him, not only how we have to play him from a passing game standpoint, but how we have to play him in the run game.”