What Bears Secondary Could Look Like

The future for Kindle Vildor could begin with Monday night's game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Benched against Detroit for the Thanksgiving Day game, they'll now have to lean on him as a cornerback starter against Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson and the high-powered Minnesota Vikings attack because he has more NFL starting experience than any defensive back available as a result of COVID-19. Vildor has 11 career starts, one more than veteran backup safety Deon Bush, who also will be pressed into starting due to Eddie Jackson being on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

When a player has been benched like Vildor had been this year, the biggest factor in his production might simply be confidence.

Defensive coordinator Sean Desai said the staff has been working on Vildor's confidence all along, as the team hadn't given up on the 2020 sixth-round draft pick.

"In terms of confidence it's just a matter of us making sure that he knows that we kind of believe in him, giving him still some opportunities and we've done that the last few weeks where he's rotated in for us at corner and then part of that is him building his own confidence and having success at that the top of some routes which he's shown over time a little bit of that," Desai said. "And so we’ve got to continue to build off of that with him. He's in a good head space where we can do that."

When Vildor first came to the Bears his role appeared unclear. GM Ryan Pace mentioned both cornerback and slot corner as possibilities. If Vildor has a role for the future, it would appear to be the same one he's had and not moving inside after some experimenting with him for a few downs in games.

"We've done that, and I think the one thing we always try to preach on, which you've seen has kind of helped us this year, is we try to teach all of our guys all of the positions," Desai said. "And that's why you’ve seen probably five or six different nickels in the game, two or three different dimes, a few different safeties and a few different corners.

"So for us, we’re big, as you guys kind of know from me in terms of techniques and fundamentals and trying to emphasize that with guys. So for him to be able to transition into that spot, he's gotten some reps there, we'll look into increasing those over time, just so he gets more comfortable."

As for a permanent position, it's not entirely clear but they seem to be leaning to the outside.

"But for him, we want him to get comfortable where he’s first most comfortable, where his natural instincts are, and then we can teach him the nickel spot," Desai said.

What the Bears will do at the other starting cornerback spot or for backups in the game isn't evident.

They could go to Michael Joseph, an undrafted free agent they originally signed in 2018 and had on their practice squad. The former Oswego High School player suffered a torn ACL in 2020 and went on injured reserve, then was cut this past August, but was re-signed earlier this week. At least he is familiar with the defense.

Another possibility is Thomas Graham Jr., their sixth-round pick this year who was cut and then stashed on the practice squad for development. He was thought to be a slot cornerback candidate, but hadn't played since 2019 because he opted out of the 2020 season.

Graham struggled at times in preseason and his real role for the future is yet to be determined.

"In terms of Thomas Graham, he continues to develop for us in a good positive way," Desai said. "Based on numbers and depth as we go, you may get a chance to see him here in these next few weeks. We're just going to have to make those decisions as we go.

"His body type is a little bit similar to (DeAndre Houston-Carson), I would say. He's a little bit lighter than DHC, he kind of carries the weight a little bit differently and he’s gotten obviously much more experience as a corner in college than DHC did. So, he's doing a good job of learning the defense and really it's been a little bit of a transition, I'm talking about through training camp and everything for him to get acclimated back to football because he hadn’t played for a while up until training camp."

Against the Vikings, they could go also to Thakarius Keyes or Dee Virgin, who have been added to the practice squad over the course of the season. Keyes started a game and played in eight with Kansas City in 2020, as a seventh-round pick after he was a college teammate of Darnell Mooney's at Tulane.

He didn't make the Chiefs roster this year, and Indianapolis picked him up and used him in mostly a special teams role for four games before cutting him.

Virgin was with Detroit from 2018 until being released just before this season, and played in 21 games with 12 tackles and one forced fumble. All of his time was on special teams, except for two plays on defense.

There are no other cornerbacks available on the roster or practice squad.

At safety, the Bears could start Teez Tabor alongside Bush, with Marqui Christian playing slot cornerback and/or safety. Christian was the starting slot cornerback in the opener against the Rams but was benched after that 34-14 loss.

Bears Secondary Situation

Out due to COVID-19

S Eddie Jackson*

S Tashaun Gipson*

CB Jaylon Johnson*

CB Artie Burns *

Out due to Injury

S DeAndre Houston-Carson (forearm)

CB Xavier Crawford (concussion)

Out due to COVID-19 and Injury

CB Duke Shelley* (hamstring)

Who's Left

S Teez Tabor

S Deon Bush

DB Marqui Christian

CB Kindle Vildor

CB Thomas Graham Jr. **

CB Thakarius Keyes **

CB Dee Virgin **

CB Michael Joseph **

*Starter

**Practice squad player

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