Bears' defense is feeling good; now here comes the Bills' Josh Allen
The Dolphins’ offense looked so bad in a joint practice Friday with the Bears that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was asked about it after the preseason game between the teams Sunday.
‘‘Results-based? Bad,’’ he said. ‘‘But then within the process, I think those are good days to have, especially as you’re starting training camp.’’
The Bears’ defense looked so good in the joint practice that safety Kevin Byard smiled when he was told Tagovailoa had thrown only one interception all camp before then. The Bears picked him off three times.
‘‘I mean, they ain’t played us,’’ he said after that practice.
The Bears haven’t played the reigning MVP, either. That will happen this week, when the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen come to Halas Hall for a joint practice Friday and to Soldier Field for a preseason game Sunday night. Allen has finished among the top five in MVP balloting in four of the last five seasons and has averaged 12 victories per season as a pro.
The Bears’ defense will be excited to see him. While the offense continues to toil on the back fields of Halas Hall — with intermittent success — the defensive players are feeling themselves. Most practices, including the one Monday, end with them walking off the field with heads high and mouths running.
They’re frustrating the quarterback across the line of scrimmage, be it Caleb Williams or Tagovailoa. On Friday, Dolphins defenders Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson even scrapped after barking at each other on the sideline.
‘‘Every day, we attack the day the same,’’ Bears linebacker Noah Sewell said. ‘‘Physicality is highly preached in our defensive room.’’
The Dolphins played Tagovailoa for almost a quarter of their snaps Sunday, and the Bears still posted one of the NFL’s best defensive efforts this preseason. Pro Football Focus ranked them fifth in overall defense, sixth in run defense and second in pass rush.
What that means at the start of the regular season is another question. For now, however, the Bears’ defense has momentum.
‘‘It’s just a constant reminder [to] just keep getting better,’’ Byard said. ‘‘We’re still a work in progress. You still never really know how it’s going to be until you get to those live games, live action.’’
Head coach Ben Johnson was impressed by seeing coordinator Dennis Allen work up close for the first time Sunday. The operation was smooth — Allen knew what he wanted to call — and the performance was sharp.
‘‘They’ve got that thing rolling already,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘For Week 1, I thought that was really impressive.’’
Defensive end Austin Booker had three sacks and forced Dolphins backup quarterback Quinn Ewers to fumble. He doesn’t have the typical size of an end in Allen’s defense — Booker is 6-6 but only 245 pounds — but Allen said last week that wasn’t disqualifying.
‘‘He’s more powerful than you would expect out of a guy that’s a little bit undersized in terms of weight or girth,’’ Allen said.
Sewell forced a fumble of his own on a ‘‘Peanut Punch,’’ tied Booker for the team lead with six tackles and stuffed running back Jaylen Wright on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
‘‘Somebody’s gotta step up,’’ he said after the game. ‘‘Why can’t it be me?’’
Neither player is in the Bears’ starting lineup. The starters will get their chance this week — Friday in practice and possibly Sunday in the game — against an offense better than that of the Dolphins.
Allen already has felt his defenders buy in this offseason.
‘‘The physicality and the effort, I think that’s been great,’’ he said last week. ‘‘And then you really just look at the professionalism of how these guys prepare each and every day, the attentiveness in the meetings.
‘‘I can’t think of any instances where we’ve had anybody not doing what they’re supposed to do. That’s all about accountability, and I think our guys are doing a good job of that right now.’’