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Jordan van den Berg Hopes to Show Bears a Controlled Violent Side

Preseason opener with Browns finally lets rookie defensive tackle hold back nothing as he tries to make a statement about his aggressive play.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg gets across his point after practice Thursday at Halas Hall.
Bears rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg gets across his point after practice Thursday at Halas Hall. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Chicago Bears video

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Chicago Bears

When Jordan van den Berg talks about football, even a preseason opener, it's easy to view him as a throwback to less sophisticated days in the NFL.

You could say he would fit in attitude-wise with the players on 1985 Bears or, heck, even with Dick Butkus and Doug Buffone in the 1960s.

The Georgia Tech sixth-rounder's description of his playing style sums this up best.

"I play with violence," van den Berg said. "This is a place where you’re able to play with violence and get praise for it. I really enjoy that aspect of the game."

It' s only preseason but don't tell van den Berg that

Van den Berg finally gets to show that off at full speed in Saturday's game with the Browns but he has been getting assorted first-team reps ion training camp and has definitely caught the eye of coaches.

When van den Berg says play with violence, the Bears are trying to get him to keep this under control. After all, he was the defensive tackle who body-slammed Bears offensive lineman Caden Barnett in practice earlier in camp.

The Athletic's Dan Pompei wrote that coach Ben Johnson so liked the way the play fired up the team that he had an AI video made of van den Berg slapping Barnett and showed it to the team.

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"I love the competitive nature, the nastiness, the meanness of playing the position," defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett said. "You like that. He plays with an edge. You have to play that position with an edge. He has that."

Plays like that tend to rile up everyone, and in the practice it had both sides hollering when he did it.

"It is contagious," Garrett said. "All the guys, can't emphasize enough how all of the guys are competing in that room and wanting to get done what we want to get done and that's changing the line of scrimmage."

Van den Berg really stood out in short-yardage and goal-line work on Tuesday.

"Man, he can strike, and he can change the line of scrimmage," Garrett said. "He gets out of his hips fast. There's always a place for that guy."

Taking it out on the Browns

That place Saturday might be starting or playing a significant portion of the game. Johnson on Thursday said Caleb Williams and some starters will not play Saturday at all. There's probably no reason for starters Gervon Dexter or Grady Jarrett to be among those on the field to begin the game, either, so the 6-foot-3, 310-pound South African could be in a rotation up front with Kentavius Street and Neville Gallimore.

It should be a good test because the Browns will want their better offensive linemen on the field to protect QB Deshaun Watson as he starts the first game in a bid to beat out Shedeur Sanders for Cleveland QB.

Then the Bears could see how well they've done at getting van den Berg to channel his aggressiveness into the proper form.

"I’d say in college I was just trying to explode out as violent as possible," van den Berg said. "I’ve gotta slow down a little bit now to let my technique and fundamentals (take hold). I feel like now with my technique and fundamentals catching up I’m able to go more fast, more violent every day."

It is just a preseason game, but van den Berg showed off that throwback attitude even with the thought of playing in a meaningless game.

"I can’t wait," he said. "I can’t wait to prove myself."

So far in camp, that's all he has done. Why should Saturday be any different?

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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.

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