Bear Digest

What the fate of rotating Bears secondary should be with healthy DBs

The Bears used plenty of defensive backs against Philadelphia but is this even necessary or wanted moving forward as injured players become healthier?
Gene Chamberlain|
Cornerback Nahshon Wright shadows A.J. Brown in Friday's 24-15 Bears win.
Cornerback Nahshon Wright shadows A.J. Brown in Friday's 24-15 Bears win. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The defensive game film review was going to be an interesting one for Bears coach Ben Johnson.

Because of his responsibilities calling plays, during the course of the game, Johnson isn't able to pay as much attention to the exact details regarding how defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's scheme is working. The personnel package in the secondary was different with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon back.

It resulted in giving rest to some of the DBs at times, as Jaylon Johnson wasn't going to be in the kind of condition after surgery to step right in and play a full game. They wanted to keep playing Nahshon Wright and C.J. Gardner-Johnson because both have performed admirably in relief roles.

Kyler Gordon and Gardner-Johnson had to rotate in the slot but the Bears played with only one linebacker at times as they went to as much dime personnel deployment as possible, and this left both Gordon and Gardner-Johnson on the field. Second linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga played only 52% of snaps (28 plays).

"Third down was when they were all out there together for sure, and then other times we’re kind of platooning those guys, but it was just great to get their feet wet," Ben Johnson said after the win about Gordon and Jaylon Johnson's being back. "I’ll be curious to see what that tape looks like.

"I mean, there’s a couple good receivers for Philly out there on the field, so I can’t wait to see how tight that coverage was. I think it’ll be a good stepping stone for us to build upon going forward here.”

If Pro Football Focus grades mean anything, they didn't think much of the Johnson-Gordon returns. Jaylon Johnson was their lowest graded defensive back in pass coverage and Gordon was next lowest.

They had Jaylon Johnson on a play count and he had 33 plays, 21 in pass coverage. Gordon was in for 36, 22 in coverage. They still leaned on Gardner-Johnson heavily for 54 plays. Because Tyrique Stevenson was out and Jaylon Johnson had limited plays, it meant someone else had to fit into the rotation and it was Nick McCloud.

Both McCloud and Wright surrendered touchdown passes, and this has been an issue with both players. McCloud has two TDs surrendered and a 136.2 passer rating when targeted, according to Pro Football Reference/Stathead. Wright, despite leading the NFL in total takeaways, has given up five touchdown passes. His passer rating against has been very respectable, though, at 74.9.

When they feel comfortable with Johnson playing every down and also that he is playing as effectively as he did before surgery is going to be a pending decision.

What to do with Wright when Tyrique Stevenson is over his hip injury is the other big decision.

Often blamed by fans for defensive lapses—sometimes just because of last year's Hail Mary—Stevenson has not had the type of season indicating he needs to be benched. His passer rating against is 89.7 and he has allowed only one TD.

It would seem his return might lead to another rotation of sorts because of how much coaches also like Wright's play.

There probably is little need for a rotation at slot cornerback except against specific run-heavy opponents because Allen's preference is nickel and as much dime coverage as possible. It's the more defensive backs the merrier, except in short yardage.

And, on Friday, Wright showed a cornerback can be a force on a tush push, as well.

All of this only validates Allen's contention that he feels like this return to health of the secondary is a good problem to have, with so many capable contributors.

The issue is making the right call for the right personnel at the right time.

For coming games, with players even healthier, the rotation idea might become more of a headache than a necessity.

Making everyone happy with playing time isn't required at this level of football.

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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.