Trevis Gipson Bringing Down the Thunder
If the Bears have had trouble getting to Aaron Rodgers with their pass rush in the past, they at least know they have momentum on their side for this game as the league leaders in sacks.
They also have the god of thunder on their side.
Second-year edge linebacker Trevis Gipson is going to play an even larger role now with Jeremiah Attaochu on injured reserve and he's already displayed his sack dance on a few occasions.
He's borrowed it from Marvel Comics.
"So I'm a big Marvel fan. I'm a fan of Thor," Gipson said. "So I like to hold my hand up, get the hammer from the sky, hit it twice on the ground and then get rid of it, go on to the next play.
"That's something that I've been having fun with and I plan on keep doing it."
Of course he only pretends to have Mjollnir, Thor's hammer for non-Marvel geeks.
He's getting some kidding from teammates.
"You do have teammates who make fun of it or try to joke around a little bit," he said. "Everybody has their own opinions on everybody's celebrations."
So who is doing the ridiculing?
"It's a list, man," Gipson said. "People like to joke around with me and stuff, so, it's a good amount of people who said some things to me."
They actually weren't being overly critical.
"They were saying that I should make it my thing," Gipson said. "In college, I usually switched up my celebrations, but I think I'm gonna hang on to this one for a while."
Naturally when Gipson has deemed himself the god of thunder, he's going to need to come up with a villain name from Marvel lore for Rodgers, who has been lighting it up since his poor start to the season.
After all, he is a long-time Bears antagonist.
"That's tough, man," Gipson said. "I'm probably going to go with Joker."
Gipson wasn't going to sneak that one by a group of nerdy sports writers, who wanted to hear Thanos, Loki, Dr. Doom or someone of that ilk.
The Joker is a DCU character, not Marvel, and Gipson admitted it sheepishly.
"There are a lot of ways I can go into it, but I think I'm just going to keep it surface level," he said. "Just take down the villain, that's the big thing."
Gipson wasn't even playing much earlier this season. He had just seven snaps in the opener and was inactive for the win over the Bengals in Week 2. But he has come on strong with more snaps over the past three games.
"I feel really good about this opportunity," Gipson said. "Unfortunately it is a bad situation for Jerry Attaochu but he's a close brother of mine. I prayed for him and I hope he comes back healthy and as far as the opportunity, I look to take full advantage of it."
Rodgers isn't going to go away as easily as the Joker or Thanos or any other character. His ability to buy time with his feet outside the pocket for big gains downfield has taken down the Bears countless times in the past.
"I know that he has an arm, we know where he likes to escape and what he likes to do," Gipson said. "I think that's what goes mostly into our rush plans. We like to rush as one, be all on the same page.
"That's something that our DC (Sean Desai) has been coaching us into. I think we're doing a pretty good job of that, but we have to keep it up.”
Gipson last year was mostly confined to the scout team until later in the season. Now the fifth-round draft pick is chasing around Rodgers, playing behind Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn.
"I was talking to my grandfather and I was telling him like it was an amazing feeling because I'm obviously a big fan of Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn and to see them cheering me on, it was a different feeling, especially going back 2-3 years ago being fans of those guys not knowing three years down the road that they would be cheering for me like I did for them. So that was a great feeling."
Not quite like bringing down thunder, but a great feeling just the same.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
