NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears defense has been a source of major heartburn this season, but the secondary has sometimes been a bright spot.
Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker has been arguably their best draft pick. Brisker leads the team in sacks (4) and is second in total tackles (94) while stuffing the stat sheet in a variety of areas (5 tackles-for-loss, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery).
Fellow rookie Kyler Gordon has been playing better lately, too. The cornerback has shown signs of growth and development after a rough start. Putting interceptions of Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen on your rookie-year highlight tape is a nice touch.
Safety Eddie Jackson was in the midst of a bounce-back year before a season-ending foot injury. Even reserves such as DeAndre Houston-Carson and Kindle Vildor were flashing in moments.
But next year, this group will be looking for another position coach. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reports DBs Coach James Rowe is leaving the Bears after their season finale to join the University of South Florida’s coaching staff:
Rowe was one of the coaches who followed Matt Eberflus to Chicago when he took the head-coaching position last January. Leaving the NFL to become a collegiate Defensive Passing Game Coordinator might look like a step back. But I can understand the allure of going back to coach at your alma mater. Perhaps this move will be Rowe’s first step toward reaching bigger, long-term coaching goals. At a minimum, it adds to his résumé, which already includes five years of coaching in the NFL.
As for the Bears, it means that at least one coaching vacancy needs to be filled this offseason. And part of me wonders if there will be others. After all, this defense has allowed the most points and fifth most yards while collecting the fewest sacks. Perhaps a shakeup is in the works. It’s not as if there wouldn’t be reason for it based on this year’s results.
Then again, a lack of talent at key defensive positions is more of a culprit than any positional coach. In any case, we’ll keep an eye out for any coaching changes that could come after the season ends. I figure it’ll be an active offseason for the Bears — and perhaps for more reasons than we’d have originally thought.
