Safety Concerns, Acho’s Excellence, More Locker Room Drama, and Other Bullets

Overall, Eddie Jackson’s rookie season has been a pleasant surprise.

The fourth-round pick from Alabama has been a starter since Week 1 and played on a team-high 729 defensive snaps (that’s 99.6 percent if you’re so inclined). But he has slumped here lately. Jackson’s struggles have reflected in his dropping grade from Pro Football Focus, which suddenly sits at 72.4

Rookies hitting the wall is nothing new, so let’s not be too alarmed about Jackson’s regression – just aware. And as Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times writes, Jackson is ready to turn the corner and establish a new tone for the season’s final five games. He’ll need to be ready to do just that if Adrian Amos is forced to sit out with a nagging hamstring injury.

  • While Head Coach John Fox said he wouldn’t reveal the team’s starting safety plans “for competitive reasons” (seriously), he did expand on the injury report and note that starting left guard Josh Sitton is still technically in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Sitton, who was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report, played just 15 snaps and his presence on the interior of the line would be missed as that group will look to contain defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
  • In case you haven’t noticed, the Bears’ front line has looked pretty good this season, but not to be out-done, Sam Acho has come on lately and provided a punch among the outside linebackers. In PFF’s weekly observations piece, Cam Mellor notes that Acho has leads all 3-4 outside linebackers in combined tackles in run defense without missing a tackle. That’s impressive work considering Acho has played just 47.4 percent of the team’s defensive snaps this season.
  • (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

  • The Bears missed Leonard Floyd’s presence as a pass rusher against the Philadelphia Eagles and will be without his services for the rest of the season. But an underrated part of Floyd’s game was his defense against the run. Floyd’s 79.4 run defense grade from PFF was the best among the Bears’ edge defenders and 36th among 111 qualifying players at the position.
  • Still, the best news to come from Week 12 was that Floyd’s injury isn’t expected to keep him out of training camp.
  • If there is one thing the Bears need now more than anything is some sort of leadership. Josh Bellamy opened up a bit regarding the hallway ruckus that resulted in Tre McBride being waived earlier in the week. Bellamy said he had no regrets after the situation unfolded and referred to the argument as the type of thing that happens as a result of brotherly love.
  • Of course, it can’t end there. Former Bears safety Harold Jones-Quartey responded to a tweet from NBC Sports Chicago reporter JJ Stankevitz that had us all like *thinking man emoji face*:
  • https://twitter.com/HJQ_29/status/936474817523605504

  • Moving on…
  • ESPN’s experts don’t have much confidence in the Bears entering Week 13:
  • https://twitter.com/Joe_Fann/status/936681752625475584

  • If you have a penchant for wagering, then thumbing through some prop bets regarding Jimmy Garoppolo’s first start should be right up your alley. OddsShark.com has some high value props for Garoppolo’s start Sunday at Soldier Field. The over/under for his passing yards has been set at 225.5 yards by Bovada, and the OVER is seen as a fair bet seeing that Brett Hundley, Matthew Stafford, and Carson Wentz each surpassed that number. From a Bears perspective, they’re hoping to keep him UNDER the touchdown pass total (1.5) and put him OVER the projected interceptions number (0.5). That would probably result in a good day for the Bears defense.
  • It’s deja vu all over again for the Green Bay Packers. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports Aaron Rodgers will return to practice on Saturday, just 45 days after undergoing surgery to fix his broken right collarbone. Rodgers could return as soon as Week 15 on the road against the Carolina Panthers. If Brett Hundley and crew can stay above water, it would set Green Bay up with a chance to inch into the playoffs with wins against the Panthers, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions.
  • Rodgers’ return to a playoff race would probably make some oddsmakers nervous. The Packers aren’t on Gil Brandt’s list of eight teams with the best chances to win the Super Bowl, but Green Bay was among the favorites earlier in the season. Plugging Rodgers back in the lineup would instantly put them back on the radar. As it stands, the Eagles are Brandt’s best bet, followed by the Patriots, Steelers, Vikings, and Saints to round out the top-5.
  • What does it say about the 2017 Bears that they beat one of the top-5 contenders and were within a touchdown of two other top-5 teams? (Nothing? Oh. Yeah, you’re probably right).
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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