High Ambitions for Bears Pass Rush

New defensive coordinator Eric Washington won't get to call defensive plays for the Bears, at least initially.

He'll still have enough on his plate to stay occupied, and it's going to focus on the defense's greatest need coming off last season.

"We'd like to be, we're going to be, a team that generates pressure with our front four," Washington said. "We're going to build the best pass rush in football. That happens to be, fortunately, an area that I've had tremendous success with and we have the personnel to get that done.

"We've got size, speed, quickness, length, Montez."

Montez Sweat is pretty impressive but alone he's not enough for a pass rush to beat the best teams if the Bears are playing seven back in coverage.

They had the top run defense and the most interceptions (22) but were next to last in sacks with 30, although they managed 20 after Sweat was acquired in a trade at midseason.

Under Washington's direction, the Bears hope this all starts trending upward at a rapid pace.

The Bills had the fourth-most sacks (54) in 2023 when he was defensive line coach. When he was with the Carolina Panthers as line coach for seven seasons they ranked in the top 10 in sacks. They were first in 2013, second in 2016 and third in 2017.

Washington. His coaching career started in a similar scheme as a low-level defensive assistant with the Bears under Lovie Smith.

"We had a collection of defensive linemen–it was a similar (defensive) philosophy–and they were a tough, aggressive bunch that loved the game," Washington said. "They absolutely loved the game. They were hard workers in practice and they were a lot of fun to be around, the personalities and just the talent, the relentlessness.

"Alex Brown was here, Tommie Harris, Julius Peppers."

He pointed out Anthony Adams, Israel Idonije and Matt Toeaina also were with the line then.

"They were a great combination, a great blend of different skillsets but with the same similar mindsets," he said. "We were a defense at that particular time that was personnel-driven and not scheme-driven. We emphasized fundamentals. We weren't trying to trick you with what we presented to the offense on a week-in and week-out basis.

"We wanted our foundation and our calling card to be the fundamentals and the situational awareness and the development and winning one on one. That's what I remember about those individuals."

If Washington can get the pass rush working and the defense succeeds, it's always possible he could eventually get the chance to call plays again. He did it briefly one season under Ron Rivera at Carolina. But this isn't in the cards for 2024. He won't have responsibilities like Alan Williams had before he resigned last season after Week 2 amid a human resource department investigation.

Game day will be about assisting.

"So for me, I will do everything that coordinator is doing without actually calling the defense," Washington said. "And if he needs to hand that responsibility off to me temporarily or for a snap or two, be ready to follow up and take that role on and make sure we continue to move forward in the direction that we want to go in.

"And the other thing is just, on the sideline during the game, just making sure that the coaches and the players are informed as far as the adjustments that we need to make and how the game is unfolding."

The idea is maintain that momentum the Bears built last year when they rose to from 29th to 12th on defense despite the hectic start with Willliams' situation.

"Matt's aware of my background in terms of calling defenses, and what we talked about more than anything was just how do we put forth the best scenario for 2024 to make sure our defense is going in the right direction," Washington said. "Matt Eberflus is an unbelievable play caller. He's an outstanding play caller, and we saw the effect that that had on our team last year, especially going down the stretch.

"We want to continue that. We don't want to stymie that momentum. We want to continue that. And my expectation, and his expectation for me, is to contribute to that (defense) in the planning process and in real time on game day."

So Washington's responsibilities will be centered around organizing and scheming during the week, then giving input during games.

"We'll be collaborating on all of those issues," he said. "Certainly I'll be counted on to be a part of constructing the defense, organizing exactly what we want to do relative to different situations and just putting the entire plan together, along with our staff.

"There will be some collaboration there. But Matt and I will work closely together to come up with the final approach that we want on a week-in and week-out basis."

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