LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams fired his first pass of training camp in Wednesday’s scrimmage directly to Tremaine Edmunds and the veteran middle linebacker took the interception up the field.
This was how coach Ben Johnson’s era unfolded on Day 1 of practices. For the other side of the football it was much different as the Bears defense under coordinator Dennis Allen seemed to pick up where they left off in their offseason work, even without injured cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
“I thought today, for the first day out there, was pretty good,” Allen said. “I thought the retention from what we did in spring to what we saw out there today, I was pleased with what I saw there. And yet we still have a long way to go. We’re going to keep working every day, continue to battle, and continue to improve and get this defense better.”
Allen has installed a defense along the lines of those he had in New Orleans as head coach and coordinator, with an emphasis on attacking and playing more man-to-man coverage.
One key to restoring a defense that dropped last season to 27th in yards allowed will be getting their run defense back to the level they had in 2023 when they led the league. From that end, the addition of defensive tackle Grady Jarrett seems critical.
“His vocal leadership’s been awesome,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “He’s a guy who’s been doing that since OTAs, been here every day locked in and ready to go.
“An older guy (32), but you can see it when he’s out there. He’s got so much juice in him and he’s just ready to go.”
After 10 years with Atlanta and seeing Allen’s defenses against the Falcons twice a season, Jarrett anticipated the attacking emphasis they’re using.
“The grittiness, the attention to detail, the knowledge of knowing what everybody should be doing from front to back and how it all works together and communicating to us, as a defense, what his expectations are on a daily basis have all been something that I’ve been appreciating,” Jarrett said.
“It definitely is going to make us all better and he is definitely somebody who’s as hungry as ever just to go out there and compete and play football and he has some players that’s ready to go out there and hunt for him.”
Johnson, a Pro Bowl cornerback the past two seasons, normally would be replaced by Terell Smith. However, Smith suffered a soft-tissue injury during OTAs and is still out. Instead, he was replaced by veteran roster pickup Nahshon Wright to start camp.
The Bears also added speedy cornerback Zah Frazier in the draft, and their secondary could be one of the team’s strongest position groups once they adjust to playing less zone.
Allen says it doesn’t hurt having a 6-foot-5 linebacker manning the middle regardless of coverage emphasis, as Edmunds showed in Wednesday’s practice.
“I’m anticipating him being an exceptional playmaker for us,” Allen said. “He’s got size. He’s got range. He’s got speed, a lot of the things we’re going to look for in terms of — look, it’s hard to throw over him. He’s got length in the middle of the field.”
It could be Allen who supplies the extra edge the defense needs to bounce back.
He had the defense doing exhausting up-downs in individual work on Wednesday, a drill normally associated with lower levels of football.
“It took me back to like seventh, eighth grade a little bit,” Edwards admitted.
It was an extra bit of unanticipated “fun” for the defense on a 95-degree day.
“It’s all part of building the culture of what type of defense we’re going to be,” Allen said. “You have to pay the toll. You have to pay the price. It’s a privilege to be on this defense.
“We’ve been doing that on every defense that I’ve been associated with since 2009. And it’s a way to mentally train players to be tough and push through adversity. Training camp is going to be difficult, and we have to be able to overcome when we’re tired.”
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