Bears News: Eberflus provide OL, Brisker update ahead of season-opener |
CHICAGO - Bears fans have a lot of questions about how this new offense is going to look. Those questions will be answered this coming Sunday when Chicago faces off against their biggest rival, the Green Bay Packers (3:25 p.m./FOX).
It is not a secret anymore that Fields is an elite rusher that all quarterbacks have to worry about. But, head coach Matt Eberflus points out that if teams try to contain his rushing ability, he can make them pay through the air. “I think when you try to take away something, you open up something else, you know, and I think that’s, try to load the box to stop the run, you’ll open up the receivers on the outside, you know,” Eberflus explains. “You try to defend the pass and, you know, play the more split safety, you open up the run.” One thing that stood out when the lineup came out for this season opener was that quarterback Tyson Bagent, who was quite the standout in the preseason, was listed as the No. 3 quarterback behind Nathan Peterman. First, this shows that the Bears are interested in using the NFL’s new rule, allowing three quarterbacks to be eligible to play in a game; the third quarterback can only come in when the first two cannot play. Second, Bagent was expected to be the backup to Fields. However, Eberflus says that this could stand. In fact, any player can move up the depth chart at any point in the season. “I think we’re always looking at guys developing and improving during the course of the year and that person could jump into another No. 2 role or stay where he is,” Eberflus stated. “So, I think that’s with everybody for our football team.” Some adjustments have already been made on the offensive line. Offensive lineman Lucas Patrick has been moved to center where Cody Whiteahir was originally going to start. Eberflus argued that this is the best combination for the team with the players that they have. “We’re just looking at the best combination, you know, what we feel is the best combination as a football staff,” Eberflus said. “Certainly during practice, we’re going to flip that combination because you have to be ready … to go.” On the defensive side of the ball, Eberflus provided a positive injury update for safety Jaquan Brisker. Brisker missed only two games last season; both of those were against the Packers. Therefore, if he is able to play, which Eberflus is confident that he will be, it will be the first time Brisker gets to play a game in this rivalry. “I want to see the speed that he’s able to play at, which he’s exhibited that (in) the last, you know, workout in the last practice that we had,” Eberflus explained regarding Brisker. “So, just excited to see that and his communication with Eddie and Kyler and the rest of the defense, that’s been good. Just excited to see him going full speed.” The Bears have also sought to improve their rushing defense. Last season, the Bears gave up an average of 157.3 rushing yards per game, the second-worst in the league. Throughout the defensive line, that is something Chicago believes they have improved upon. “We’ve worked very hard on that this year, you know, with the defensive tackles, with the defensive ends, with your linebackers, with the style that we’re doing and the fundamentals and we’ll see where we are,” Eberflus said. Still, despite being the worst team in the league record-wise last season, the goal this season is the Super Bowl. First, Eberflus wants to win the division, then the conference and then achieve the most coveted victory in the NFL. However, division games like the season-opener are even more important to achieving these goals. “That’s our number one goal is to win the division, you know, win the conference and then go to the Super Bowl, you know, and have a chance to win that and we talked about that early on, you know, in the spring,” Eberflus explained. “We know that division games are more important. They have more weight to them and we’re excited about this one.”
