Stuffing the Run Bears Primary Objective

Even without injured DeMarcus Walker practicing, the difference in the Bears defensive line is noticeable to Justin Jones.

Jones last year felt ganged up on much of the time, but no more.

"We have some guys who really are able to cause havoc and get in the backfield and make a lot of good plays," Jones said after Sunday's family fest practice at Soldier Field. "So D-Walk, Andrew Billings, Rasheem Green, obviously our new addition (Yannick Ngakoue), I haven't seen him out there yet but obviously you've heard the name before and what he's about.

"So we've got a lot of guys who can create negative plays and it's not just me. So it's cool to have. It's fun to see. When we play, I don't think they're going to have an answer for everybody, which is a really good thing."

Last year the defensive line accounted for 28 tackles for loss. Jones made 12 of them. No one else on the line made more than four and the Bears went on to finish next to last against the run.

The big difference could be the big guy.

That's Andrew Billings. Well, there's not so much of him now, it seems.

"I'm just excited about Big Bill did with changing his body over the summer," coach Matt Eberflus said.

Past weight listings for Billings on other teams' rosters put him at 328 pounds. He's at 311 now after working with Bears weight, strength and nutrition people in the off-season.

"And you could see the quickness," Eberflus said. "I always knew he was strong at the point. I saw that on tape when I watched him with opponents. But he's really got some good quickness, his initial quickness.

"He's got a quick set of hands. When you play that nose tackle position, your hands have to move from the ground to the man super fast. It's gotta be elite and he does a really good job with that. And he's got the foot quickness to be able to stay where he needs to stay."

It's critical for Jones to have someone who can play next to him with more quickness in addition to good size.

"He commands a double team," Jones said. "That singles me up. Teams just can't slide to me every time. Teams can't just send a chip my way, send a slide my way."

Billings flashed his skill set during Sunday's scrimmage. On one play, he broke in for a 4-yard tackle for loss against the run. On the very next play, he sacked quarterback P.J. Walker.

"I don't know if you've seen, a lot of the games that we played, the center is always on me, every time. Now that we have ends that get upfield and get around the edge, and we've got a guy who can split a double team—not just Andrew Billings, but Gervon Dexter—you know, guys who can push the front four, push the line back and stuff like that, that frees me up a lot. So it's exciting."

The overall effect on the defense with a more stout front against the run is not confined solely to the line. With three players at the linebacker positions who weren't there last year, and with a speedy secondary capable of coming up, the Bears are hopeful they can avoid being trampled at the point of attack like they were last year when they gave up 150 yards rushing or more eight times and 200 or more five times.

"It's going to be night and day from what we were last year," Jones said.

No one will have evidence of where the starting point is for this more stout group of run stuffers until real play begins. Even preseason isn't much of an indicator because of all the mixing of lineups going on then. However, the point of their acquisitions was to get tougher and bigger up front and it would be really stretching the imagination to think they flopped on all accounts based on success of players added in the past at the point of attack. Also, Eberflus' scheme helped the Colts go from 26th against the run under Chuck Pagano to four straight years of 10th or better against the run.

This team did have a long way to go, though. Next to last against the run was a rank they deserved.

"I certainly see a jump in talent," Eberflus said. "I do see that. I see the experience and the familiarity with the scheme certainly helps. We've got some guys that are pretty rugged up front. Our front seven's changed, right? There's only a couple of guys that are still part of that front seven that was from last year.

"So there's been a big changeover, right? The secondary's young. And they certainly supply a lot of run force and a lot of aggression into that, too. It's a team defensive thing."

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