Matt Eberflus on injury updates, trading for Montez Sweat |
CHICAGO - Once again, the Chicago Bears were active on the last day of the trade deadline. This time, they acquired edge rusher Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders in exchange for a 2024 second-round draft pick. Sweat is an investment into the future of the Bears defense and hopefully will help to establish them as a formidable defense once again.
At the very least, head coach Matt Eberflus is certainly excited about this acquisition. “I had a great conversation with him. Super excited to join the Bears. Ryan and his staff worked tirelessly to get that done during the trade deadline for the last week or so, and excellent job by those guys, signing a premiere player like Montez,” Eberflus said. “What’s unique about him is that he’s one heck of a pass rusher, but he also, talking to the guys that have played against him in the building and just watching his tape, he’s a really good run player and plays with a great motor. He’s a great practice player, just talking to the guys that have been with him. So, he’s going to fit right into our culture in terms of working, and your best player has to be your hardest workers … Pending his physical, we’ll get him going ASAP.” It is not entirely clear whether or not he will play this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints (Noon / CBS). However, Bears fans are hopeful that will happen. The Saints have given up 21 sacks so far this season. But, the Bears defense ranks last in sacks this season with just 10 so far this season. Luckily, New Orleans’s defense is second-to-last with 15 sacks. Thus, this should be a game with more complementary football. What would help is if some players defensively were able to return from injury. In the game against the Los Angeles Chargers this past Sunday, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds injured his knee. While he attempted to return to the game, he was not able to stay in, and is questionable for the Saints game. “Tremaine is day-to-day with his knee,” Eberflus said. “He’s also in a good spot, and we’ll see where it goes during the week.” Safety Jaquan Brisker is also questionable for the upcoming game. He is currently in his second stint in concussion protocol, and he was not able to play against the Chargers because of illness. That was the first game he missed this season, and only missed two in his rookie campaign last year. “Brisker is in concussion protocol, and we’ll see how he progresses this week. We just have to let it go through the process on that,” Eberflus said. “But, his spirits were good. Saw him this morning, and saw him yesterday. So, he’s in a good spot.” This season has been quite the bizarre one thus far. The Bears are minus their defensive coordinator who resigned, traded away receiver Chase Claypool, are now without running backs coach David Walker who's been fired and the team is dealing with a lot of injuries. Adversity has certainly been a constant throughout this season, but Eberflus says the culture of the team has prevailed and they are improving. “The culture in our building is outstanding. The guys work hard every single day. The relationship piece is there,” Eberflus said. “We care about each other, and we’re working diligently to get this thing turned (around). We’re 2-2 in the last four games. One game was real close, had a chance at that one, and we really feel we were turning a corner there, and we feel excited about this week.” With quarterback Justin Fields still not able to play with a dislocated thumb, rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent out of Division II Shepherd will start the third game of his NFL career. Perhaps the addition of a pass rusher on the other side, this will alleviate some of the pressure on the offense.
