What does a pass-rush reset look like? 3 things we heard from Chicago Bears defensive assistants

The Chicago Bears are entering the next phase of the offseason program.

In that phase, the defensive line has yet to focus on scheme and the new safeties are already making their mark.

Here’s what we heard from the Bears’ defensive assistant coaches as they spoke at Halas Hall on Thursday.

The Bears’ ideal middle linebacker

Richard Smith has been coaching football for nearly 40 years. The specifics have gotten a little list over time.

"It’s 39 or 40," Smith said. "Something like that."

The game has changed over time. Smith said he recalled the days when players ate breakfast at home, brought lunch to work and ate dinner at home. Now, players get to eat every meal at the team facility.

What hasn’t changed, though, is what Smith wants as his ideal middle linebacker.

If a player is going to wear the green dot for him and make the defensive calls, that player needs to be an "abrasive a**hole." These are his words.

"If you got that, then those guys up front respect you because you're going to get them right," Smith said. "When you have to move the line, when you have to make a stunt, it's all communicated through them."

The Bears have a middle linebacker in TJ Edwards who will wear that green dot. Last year, the Bears had D’Marco Jackson wear it when Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds were injured. Smith noted Noah Sewell, who is returning from an Achilles injury, could be in the mix to make defensive calls, too.

"Right now, what's been great is that TJ’s been rehabbing and Noah, who's been rehabbing, and they don't miss a meeting," Smith said. "They're in all those meetings and part of the group." 

Incoming linebacker Devin Bush was one of the best off-ball linebackers in free agency. It seems likely he’ll stick in that spot for the Bears’ defense. If Edwards is healthy, it seems likely the Bears will have him make defensive calls.

But, with multiple players recovering from injuries, it makes sense the Bears would want as many players capable of making the defensive calls as possible. The players who fit the middle linebacker position have a requirement in Year 2 under Smith, and in the coming years, should the Bears make another investment in a younger or more long-term middle linebacker.

What a fundamental reset of the pass rush looks like

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen pointed the finger at himself when asked why the Bears’ pass rush will improve next season.

Allen said the Bears will focus on the fundamentals of the pass rush. Since then, it’s fair to ask what exactly that looks like. Defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett shed some light on what that looks like.

Garrett said the Bears’ defensive line room has not discussed the defensive scheme, different looks, or different fronts at all as of May 21 in the first two phases of the offseason programs. The room has just been discussing pass rush fundamentals.

Right now, it’s about building speed and power, and how to use that power to be in a position to attack the quarterback.

"If you watch those Olympic sprinters and they're coming out of the blocks, man, they're pushing out of the blocks with both feet," Garrett said. "Then, they're swiping and then they're gaining ground."

Each player is different. Some are faster than others. Some have a deeper variety of pass-rush moves at their disposal.

Before any pass rusher can use those moves or speed, they need to make sure they get off the ball, bend and keep a consistent pad level.

"We gotta have better body lean as we get off," Garrett said. "Can't stand up and try to work our moves off the line of scrimmage."

Garrett said this is the first time in his career that the team he’s coaching has dedicated most of the early phases of the offseason to rushing fundamentals.

It might seem like a given, but Garrett said this dedication has already shown improvements.

The Bears' have high confidence in their two new safeties

The entire back end of the Bears’ secondary is new.

Welcome in, Coby Bryant and rookie Dillon Thieneman. These two are expected to step in where Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker left off, especially in terms of production and safety-to-safety chemistry.

It’ll be hard to replicate the production, but the Bears aren’t dwelling on building chemistry.

"I'm not nervous about that," Bears safety coach Matt Giordano said.

The biggest reason the Bears aren’t sweating the chemistry is that they have the time to build it. It’s only Phase 2 of the offseason program with minicamp and OTAs to come.

"That's just going to take time with time on tasks, time reps and stuff like that," Giordano said. "What you're excited for is like, you see two players like that, okay, now how can we use them and let them just be them out there and use them with how they've been blessed."

The second reason is because of the players at hand.

Giordano said Bryant is a player who has made it pertinent to understand everything the coaches throw at him. If Bryant doesn’t understand something at first glance, he asks the coaches to rewind and explain it again until he understands it.

Giordano said Thieneman is similar in how he studies the game. The rookie safety has a level of intelligence in studying the game where it gives the Bears confidence the rookie will pick up the defensive scheme, and it gives the Bears trust in two high IQ safeties.

The Bears still have some time to install the scheme into their two safeties. After that, the Bears are confident they can just let the two loose.

"Just let 'em go out there and make plays," he said.

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