Cubs News: Washington previews matchup with Titans, praises defensive line’s work ethic |
CHICAGO - Eric Washington is preparing for his first regular season game as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.
While this does not continue play-calling duties as head coach Matt Eberflus will be calling defensive plays, he still has a role in breaking down what Chicago’s defense should be preparing for against the Tennessee Titans this Sunday (Noon / FOX) with Brian Callahan’s first game as a head coach. “I realize that he’s a product of the Bengals system, and some of the things that they’ll present will be a lot of things as far as what we’re seeing pre-snap as opposed to what happens when the ball is actually snapped,” Washington said. “We have to be ready for tempo changes. We have to be ready for various personnel groupings and just different things that could happen outside of what you normally would see on first and second down.” Callahan was the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019 to 2023. However, his situation with Tennessee is quite different. While the Bengals had problems at the offensive line, the line is one of the strengths of the Titans’ offense, although they did lose running back Derrick Henry to free agency. They also have some familiar names at receiver: DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, and Tyler Boyd. Boyd used to play for Callahan in Cincinnati, so he is very familiar with him. Hopkins, their top receiver, is currently questionable with a knee injury and was limited all week. “They’ve invested heavily in the offensive line. You start there. Through draft picks and free agency, that particular group, and for a reason, they’ve got a young quarterback that has a lot of talent, and they have to give him a chance, not only from a protection standpoint but also being able to run the ball to complement this quarterback,” Washington said. “DeAndre Hopkins, you can start there. This is a person that, everywhere that he’s been, he’s impacted games to the detriment of the defense. So, we have to make sure that we understand what he can bring, what he brings to the table and we have to do a good job of making sure that we stay in front of him.” During his coaching career, Washington has specialized as a defensive line coach. In his over twenty years of coaching experience, he has worked with many different defensive line groups. However, coming into this season, Washington says this Chicago group has the hardest workers he has ever been with, which should prepare them to face Tennessee’s strong offensive line. “The defensive line, they’ve done a tremendous job. They’ve worked their tails off. It’s one of the hardest working groups that I’ve ever been associated with and the coaches have done a phenomenal job of identifying areas that we needed to grow in individually and collectively and just making sure that we can be the consistent force that we believe exists within that particular group,” Washington said. “My responsibility was to come in and just make sure that I knew exactly what our plan consisted of and that I inserted some of the things as far as what I see into that process and just try to help the overall effort.” Chicago’s defense is expected to be one of the best in the league. While Tennessee is a good test of that, the Bears’ greater test will come the following week when they face off against the reigning AFC South Champions, the Houston Texans, on Sunday Night Football on Sun. Sept. 15 (7:20 p.m./NBC).
