Washington: “I have complete confidence in Tyrique Stevenson” |
CHICAGO - The Chicago Bears will face another difficult task defensively when they face the Arizona Cardinals this coming Sunday (3:05 p.m. / CBS). Their run attack is particularly strong as they have a double-headed monster in quarterback Kyler Murray and running back James Conner.
Chicago struggled to contain Jayden Daniels against the Washington Commanders, and Murray is a similar kind of talent. “You could describe (Murray) as a nightmare for opposing (defensive) coordinators. This young man has tremendous speed, arm talent, he can change the arm angle against the rush. They’ve done an excellent job of protecting him and he’s done a great job of protecting the football, not a lot of opportunities for interceptions,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “Everything that we aspire to do and that’s (to) get hits on the quarterback to put him in third down situations that would take advantage of what we’ve been able to do on third down.” Chicago’s run defense has been its weakness so far this season. They surrendered 168 rushing yards to the Commanders this past Sunday and 152 rushing yards versus the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. For Arizona, Conner is seventh in the NFL in rushing attempts through the first eight weeks. He is averaging 4.3 yards per attempt thus far. “They are number one or they’re in the top five in terms of explosive runs with James Conner. Big, physical back. Downhill runner, run behind his pads,” Washington said. “The offensive line does a nice job, not only of protecting the quarterback, but executing the various run schemes and run concepts that they will feature for him. So, we’re excited about the challenge going out here against an NFC opponent on the road and getting ourselves back on track.” Given the events on the Hail Mary attempt from the Commanders, it is unclear whether Chicago will have cornerback Tyrique Stevenson in their matchup against Arizona. His actions could have gotten him suspended on some teams, but that does not appear to be happening with the Bears. However, Washington declined to comment on his availability but said he has confidence in Stevenson. “My job is to develop the defense and every person that’s involved in that, the entire construct and so, we know exactly what we have to do week in and week out and when you have a moment like that, you have a situation where we don’t finish the game the way that we want, we look at it. We also acknowledge some of the things that really put us in a position to be in that type of play. A team that was scoring 30 points a game, four field goals, (was) outstanding. There were a lot of things that went on. But, it’s a moment of reflection. It’s a moment of growth and my job is to help every single person on the field in that situation,” Washington said. “I have complete confidence in Tyrique Stevenson. I have complete confidence in his position coach, (cornerbacks coach) Jon Hoke, and we just need to continue to work, continue to grow. I know Tyrique and I know everybody on our defense beyond that particular moment and that’s the advantage that I have that maybe others don’t. I know him beyond that moment … My focus is moving forward and making sure that we get the defense ready for the Arizona Cardinals and that’s where I am and I’m not (as) much interested in consequences as I am in making sure that we grow from every situation that we’re involved in.” Even if they do not have Stevenson, it appears they will have edge rusher Montez Sweat. Sweat is also on the injury report after he suffered a shin injury against the Commanders. He was unable to practice on Wednesday but was upgraded to limited on Thursday. Having him in the game would make a world of difference, as he is one of the league’s elite pass rushers. “He’s one of those guys that you have to account for offensively and … (We have) some alignment versatility that we have, some alignment variations that we can use not only to get him in spots but to force matchups that may be favorable for us. We talk about all those things,” Washington said. “The other benefit of having a (player) like Montez is (some) of the rush production is spread out amongst the other guys in the defensive line. We’re the sum of our parts, if you will. And so, if you’re going to focus your attention on Montez, then the person away from his alignment has got to be production and we have to kind of discourage that with the production that we have from some of the other guys. So, that’s where we start. We have a lot of things without our package and some of the things that we talk about in terms of our game plan that we like to utilize and install, and when we (feel) like we’re in a great opportunity to do that, we will.”
