Bear Digest

Lamar Jackson's return to health presents obvious obstacle to Bears

The Bears haven't been the best defense at stopping quarterback runs but with Lamar Jackson returning to practice Wednesday they're going to be challenged.
Gene Chamberlain|
Lamar Jackson scrambles against the Bears in his first-ever preseason game. The Bears have never faced him in the regular season.
Lamar Jackson scrambles against the Bears in his first-ever preseason game. The Bears have never faced him in the regular season. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Lamar Jackson returned to the Baltimore Ravens practice field on a limited basis Wednesday from a hamstring injury and the Bears definitely took note.

If he’s practicing at all on Wednesday it bodes well for his return on Sunday to face the Bears, but they have been operating as if they expect to face him, anyway.  Coach Ben Johnson said as much on Wednesday and players are prepping for it.

“He’s that dynamic as a quarterback, as a runner, in my opinion, the best mobile quarterback in NFL history,” safety Kevin Byard said. “So I think the main thing is to understand that the only thing you can do is try to slow him down, especially when he's running.

“I've had experience with him playing against him in Tennessee and our biggest thing was ‘make the guy go lateral.’ You know, if he gets downhill, especially escaping through the pocket, he's just as dangerous as any runner in this league.”

The Bears have allowed the 12th most rushing yards in the NFL to quarterbacks this season at 20.3 yards a game. No doubt if they finish this game with 20 yards allowed to Jackson they’ll be elated.

They’ve been more effective at it since the return of T.J. Edwards at linebacker, giving them two linebackers who can come up out of coverage and prevent the stray QB run.

The real danger isn’t always Jackson’s running, though, and coming off of a hamstring injury he could be expected to be a bit reluctant to turn it all loose running the ball anyway.

“But understand what he's gonna do, and kind of similar with Patrick Mahomes with, it's not really the first play that's being called, it's the second play, the scramble plays and him scrambling to throw,” Byard said. “He's become a great passer, as well, so it's gonna be a huge challenge for us.

“And then obviously, I can't forget about my guy Derrick Henry back there in the backfield. They formed the most dangerous backfield in the league in my opinion, so it'd be a huge challenge for our defense.”

The chance still exists it could be Cooper Rush or Tyler Huntley playing against them, but the Wednesday limited practice usually means a full practice by Friday and Jackson has been out almost four weeks. However, it's likely they'll face Jackson for the first time in the regular season.

“Both those (backup) guys have played a lot of ball,” Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “You gotta give them their due respect.

“At the end of the day, Baltimore wants to run the football. They’re a physical team up front. They play with a lot of pride. They want to play their brand of ball. You gotta be ready for whatever.”

Whatever usually means Jackson with the Ravens.

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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.