Special Teams Ace Officially an Ex-Bear

There's no going back for the Bears now.

They've committed to Elijah Hicks as the first backup safety, and never brought veteran free agent safety DeAndre Houston-Carson back. And now it doesn't matter because DHC has signed with the Baltimore Rvens.

The veteran back up safety and special teams ace played seven years in Chicago after being drafted in the sixth round by Ryan Pace in 2016.

DHC had 139 tackles, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries to go with three fumbles forced in his Bears career.

He became a big part of their dime defense in the later years of the Matt Nagy era as Sherrick McManis' career wound down and then ended.

However, Houston-Carson will best be remembered as a special teams player.

It's here where special teams coordinator Richard Hightower has had to address the topic throughout training camp.

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"Everybody knows here DHC was a phenomenal guy on and off the field, phenomenal player on and off the field," Hightower said. "It's always hard to replace a guy, because I want to give him respect, because nobody is just going to come in and be him.

"And I'm not as a coach going to ask anybody to do that. I just always tell them to be you. So be yourself, and then the natural leaders, they'll come to the forefront."

The Bears came up with one pretty good candidate last year. Undrafted cornerback Josh Blackwell finished with 11 total special teams tackles, a forced fumble and a recovery to lead the team. DHC was second with nine and a forced fumble.

Houston-Carson was in on 45 special teams tackles according to NFLGSIS.com. He had three forced fumbles and three recoveries on special teams.

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