Waldron on offensive issues, lack of usage for Roschon Johnson |
CHICAGO—Under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, Chicago’s quarterback was under constant pressure. That is why Shane Waldron was brought in as his replacement—to improve the passing offense, maintain the running game, and protect the quarterback.
So far, he has not succeeded on any of these fronts. “I don’t think that the sacks are necessarily always correlated to the issue at hand. One is a slide on a screen play right there. Another is a running out on the sideline there on a keeper,” Waldron said. “So, really, it’s more as a whole of what’s the rush feel and … does the run game impact the rush plan. If we can go ahead and lean on a defensive line in the run game, I think that’s going to directly correlate to less pressures … The pressures is more the thing that we’re focused on.” Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was pressured 11 times and sacked seven by the Houston Texans in Chicago’s first loss of the season. The problem seems clear - the offensive line is not playing to the level that was expected of them coming into this season. However, Waldron accurately says that establishing the run game would help with that issue. Going against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league in the Indianapolis Colts this coming Sunday (Noon / CBS), perhaps the Bears can finally get something going on the ground. “As an offense, we want to be able to establish the run every game that we play in,” Waldron said. “It always comes back to us and knowing that they’re going to really attack something and approach something that maybe was a perceived weakness the week before or the week before that where they focus on it, try to improve it. So, for us, it just goes back to focus on ourselves, focus on our fundamentals, hit the blocks the correct way and we’ll be rolling.” Last season was the first year with running back Khalil Herbert as the starter. However, injuries prevented him from playing in a few games. Quarterback Justin Fields finished the season as the leading rusher, with Herbert closely behind. Running back D’Onta Foreman was third for the Bears in rushing yards. So, Chicago lost two of their top three rushers between last season and this year. Therefore, Chicago brought in shifty running back D’Andre Swift. However, he is averaging two yards per carry so far this season. “I feel like we have a good group of running backs,” Waldron said. “I think (running backs coach) Chad Morton and (assistant running backs coach) Jennifer King have done a good job of allowing those guys to gain a lot of reps and different styles of run throughout the course of (training camp) heading into the season here and now, it’s about finding that rhythm as a whole. Feel good with Swift and with Khalil and with Roschon (Johnson) and the different styles that they can bring. So, each week, evaluating what fits them best … and figuring out how they fit into the game plan this week, how we can maximize their tools.” Second-year running back Roschon Johnson is coming off a season in which he had 352 rushing yards and two touchdowns, as well as 209 receiving yards. However, he was inactive against the Tennessee Titans in the season opener and did not play a single offensive snap against the Texans. Especially given the running back struggles, Johnson’s lack of usage is striking some as odd. But, Waldron attributes this to Johnson still being in the process of ramping up from his preseason injury despite not having an injury designation for the Titans game. “I think a lot of it comes back to the ramp up and getting going there knowing he’s a great player there (on) special teams there, gets a chance to play there, and just the way the reps play out each game will be dependent on us getting enough snaps,” Waldron said. “If we’re able to run the ball more, get some more runs called, more opportunities will present themselves for the different backs in the backfield.”
