A banged-up Bears' defense prepares for run-heavy Falcons team: Who is in & out?
First and North: The Bears get blown out, but the Packers suffer a big loss.
After the worst loss of Ben Johnson’s tenure in Chicago, the Bears now wait to see if Caleb Williams can return, while Montez Sweat get dealt a two game suspension. Jahmyr Gibbs passes Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns in NFL history by a player under 25 in Detroit’s win, The Packers lose their defensive tackle for the season during their blowout win and The Vikings stayed unbeaten behind Brian Flores’ defense.
The Chicago Bears defense took one on the chin against the Packers.
After giving up 31 points and 428 total yards, the Bears want to get back up and get back on track. It starts with playing with a sense of urgency.
"We need to take last week’s performance personally," defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said.
The Bears will have to find that urgency potentially without a handful of defensive starters.
What we know:
The Bears' defense took a hit this weekend.
Tyrique Stevenson, TJ Edwards and Dayo Odeyingbo all left Sunday's loss against the Packers with injuries. Some are worse than others.
Johnson said Stevenson is listed as day-to-day, while Edwards is more week-to-week. Odeyingbo, however, will most likely miss a game or maybe more. Johnson said Odeyingbo will "likely miss some time" with a quad injury but won't be placed on injured reserve.
The Bears took another hit on Tuesday when Montez Sweat was suspended for two games for violating the NFL's Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy
"Obviously, we’re disappointed whenever we lose a player of his caliber for multiple games," Johnson said.
Johnson said he hadn't spoken to Sweat after the suspension, and wasn't sure if Sweat would appeal the suspension.
This leaves the Bears in a bind.
What we don't know:
It's unclear how the distribution of snaps on the Bears' defensive line will play out.
Without Sweat and Odeyingbo, the Bears' pass rush thins out even more at a position that was suspect to start the season. Austin Booker is one of the players the Bears will lean on after his two-sack performance against Green Bay.
It does help to get Shemar Turner back from the physically unable to perform list, but it's unclear how much impact he'll make after missing all of the offseason programs and training camp with a torn ACL.
"Shemar certainly plays the equation, we hope, now that he's on 53," Johnson said. "You got a guy like Booker, who's certainly on the up right now in terms of snap count and production, so that's good to see."
Turner was a second-round pick by the Bears in the 2025 NFL Draft, meaning the team has high expectations for him. They've talked about how the Bears can use him as an interior and exterior defensive lineman.
"He’s a guy who plays with supreme edge," Jarrett said. "He looks powerful off the ball."
The Bears need that, and they need it bad.
Atlanta boasts a running game that features running back Bijan Robinson who Johnson mentioned should be in the race for the NFL's Most Valuable Player award. They also have Michael Penix Jr., who revitalized the Falcons' passing game after returning from a torn ACL. Penix pairs well with wide receiver Drake London well in the passing game, too.
Winning at the line of scrimmage is paramount for the Bears' defense this week. They know that it needs to show first and foremost.
"We need to play with an edge," Jarrett said. "We need to compete. The way we compete needs to jump off the tape."
The Source: Story and reporting comes from the Bears Wednesday media availability.