Bear Digest

Bears show they have a replacement for discarded fan favorite

The linebacker chosen to follow Jack Sanborn feels it's his time and part of the reason is the sacrifice he made for better conditioning.
Gene Chamberlain|
Special teams roles like blocking for punter Tory Taylor have been Noah Sewell's job until now but he's in line for something more.
Special teams roles like blocking for punter Tory Taylor have been Noah Sewell's job until now but he's in line for something more. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Noah Sewell's big hit to end a goal-line stand, his forced fumble and his six tackles for only 31 plays in Sunday's 24-24 Bears tie with Miami could finally quiet one section of well-meaning, noisy fans.

Those would be people who adored Jack Sanborn's effort and hitting as the strongside linebacker in the base Bears defense. It's easy to understand Sanborn's fan appeal as a suburban Lake Zurich native but the Bears didn't see the need to tender him as a restricted free agent who failed to exactly fit their new scheme—or offer him a longer-term deal. So now Sanborn is a Cowboys linebacker.

The Bears were looking for more speed in the Dennis Allen attacking scheme. Maybe Sewell fits this concept a little better. Sunday's first attempt says so.

“Definitely, I do feel lighter on my feet, a little bit quicker," Sewell said. "Have to keep working at it.”

The reason he's quicker on his feet, he says, is being able to avoid injuries but also the change he made in his diet. He eliminated one aspect of it at the behest of Bears dieticians. He has dropped several pounds to 246.

"M&Ms, I miss the M&Ms," he said. "That's about it."

Well, Marshawn Lynch had his Skittles, but if being a bigger force defensively is only going to cost some plain or peanut candies, it's a small price.

Being in his third year now, it's time Sewell did something for the Bears besides special teams and being the younger brother of Lions All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell—who, by the way, wasn't too happy when he heard the Bears had taken away offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be head coach. He didn't want to even say much to his brother about the new coach.

"Penei didn't really give anything," Sewell said. "He was a little salty that his coach was coming over here.

"I was like, ‘Hey, good for us, we’re ready to roll.' ”

Johnson's team might make better use of Sewell because his speed lets him blitz and it's something he used to do some when he played at Oregon.

Attacking more is what he likes about Allen's scheme.

“The aggressive play calls in terms of certain situations, if they're in short, may call the blitz, may, may not," Sewell said. "Just being aggressive on those downs.”

Aggressive or not, Sewell had only 27 defensive plays as a rookie and five last year while carrying a heavy special teams load of 411 plays. Now it should change. His biggest competition for strongside might be veterans Amen Ogbongbemiga or Swayze Bozeman or rookies Ruben Hyppolite II and Power Echols. But Ogbongbemiga injured his shoulder Sunday and Sewell clearly looks ready to ascend.

"The first two years, I've just kind of been up and down," Sewell said. "I'd say in my third year going around just kind of trying to stay positive, just stay with it, trust the process.”

The process says it's his time even if the Sanborn fans didn't like seeing their legendary Bear leave.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.