Washington breaks down play from Sweat, Dexter during camp |
LAKE FOREST, I.L. - Training camp is officially underway and Chicago’s new defensive coordinator, Eric Washington, says the defense is confident while also maintaining their humility as they continue to improve to become one of the NFL’s most dominant defenses.
“There’s a confidence there, but there’s also a humility and an understanding that everything that we get, we’re going to have to earn,” Washington said. “We’re going to have to earn, we’re going to have to work for it every single day and be excited, have confidence, but at the same time, maintain a certain level of humility to just know we need to continue to push ourselves. So, that confidence is definitely there.” Chicago has numerous elite playmakers on its team. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was a second-team All-Pro last season after recording a career-high four interceptions and his first pick-six. He and edge rusher Montez Sweat were Chicago’s two Pro Bowlers in the 2023 season. The Bears traded for Sweat mid-season last year, so he only played with Chicago for nine games. However, he still managed to lead the team in sacks with six. This year is Washington’s first time working with Sweat and he is impressed with Sweat’s strength and quick learning ability. “He’s a lot stronger than I perceived him to be, very strong player. He understands how to use his length. Montez is a quick study. What we’re doing defensively is different than what he’s done in his career. There’s some different subtleties and different things and he’s a quick study. He’s paying attention. He’s picking things up and he’s not (hesitant) to ask questions and to say, ‘Listen, I want to get this right. What does this mean to me and how does it fit into the overall construct?’ So, I just love his professional approach. He’s extremely talented physically and that’s a great base and foundation to have. But, you got to combine that with some other things,” Washington said. “We want flexibility with where we can align him and we want to utilize his skill set against the offensive line and not just specific to one position … I really appreciate the fact that he’s embracing that challenge and just everything that he’s doing to just make his game as well-rounded as possible.” Alongside Sweat on the defensive line is second-year player Gervon Dexter. Dexter played in all 17 games last season, but had his best game of the season in Chicago’s 37-17 win against the Atlanta Falcons when he recorded 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits. There has been a lot of talk about Dexter playing a much larger role in the defense this season and his mentality during the offseason, organized team activities (OTAs) and training camp have shown his dedication to embracing that role. “When Dexter comes on the practice field every day, when he comes into the meeting, for a younger player, he’s got blinders on. He is really focused on himself, what he needs to do in that particular practice,” Washington said. “We kind of preview what we’re going to do on the field the day before and so, I can see that he has (taken) that meeting outside to the grass and when he comes into the meeting, he’s ready to go and so the level of focus that he has as a second-year player is pretty uncommon.” Rookie defensive end Austin Booker has also gotten some reps with the starting defense. Booker was Chicago’s only defensive player selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Washington stated that his playing with the starting roster is because of their rotation and also because of his gaining experience. “Right now, it’s just more of a function of the way we’re rotating them right now and just trying to make sure that we give him exposure but at the same time, we continue to build him and move him at a pace that we think is reasonable for his long-term development … Of course, we want to get him exposure, get him on the field with Tremaine, with the other veteran defensive linemen. But, it’s really just a function of the rotation,” Booker said. “(Monday) was really the first day that we could kind of turn up the pass rush a little bit because we’ve been kind of working the tempo if you will and not that we’re not in pads yet. But, I saw a lot of things that I’m really excited about. His hand usage, his ability to counter and with a pass rusher, especially a young player, just a mindset. He’s competing out there and he’s competing to win. He’s got one objective in mind and that’s to put himself in position to hit the quarterback. So, I’m really excited to see that.” With all of the pieces on this defense - Sweat, Dexter, Booker and the rest of Chicago’s playmakers - their defense, specifically their pass rush, promises to be better this upcoming season as compared to the past two seasons where the Bears only had 50 sacks in that time period. “I mentioned the very first day I walked into this room, we want to build the best pass rush in the NFL and that means a pass rush that’s consistently affected and that can be relied upon with just four guys affecting the quarterback - hits, sacks, sack fumbles, making the quarterback throw off-schedule - so we can take advantage of the exceptional secondary that we have and so, there’s an individual component to that,” Washington said. “Then, there’s the group component. They have to rush together. They have to understand how to communicate, how to install and affect the different rush concepts that we believe will fit that particular situation and we got to be relentless. We have to be relentless and I’m seeing that right now, some really positive signs of that as we’ve gotten through the first four practices.” The first test for Chicago’s defense will be against the Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame game on Thurs. Aug. 1 (7 p.m./ABC). While it is only a preseason game, it could provide some insight into the talent of the pass rush and whether players like Dexter are living up to their hype.
