Bears' defense, offense prepares for task of taking on formidable Vikings
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- Caleb Williams and company will have their hands full Sunday against a Minnesota Vikings defensive unit that shares the league lead for takeaways.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Bears' own defense hopes to make life miserable for Minnesota QB Sam Darnold this coming Sunday.
Inside the Walter Payton Center, Montez Sweat and the Bears defense tried to figure out ways to get after the opposing quarterback more.
The Bears have just five sacks as a team the last three games. Sweat has just three and a half sacks all season, and he's not happy about the losing either.
"I mean, we're on a what, three- or four-game losing streak?" Sweat said. "I'm pretty f***ing frustrated."
Sweat said figuring things out and getting the defense on the right footing requires everyone's efforts.
"I mean, it's like a week-to-week thing. They come in bunches," he said. "So I mean, I think we need to just figure things out as a front—not just me."
Defensive coordinator Eric Washington said that team effort is exactly what's being sought.
"That's a weekly aspiration and goal," Washington said. "Everything that we like to do starts with a four-man rush."
Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown says there are no "atta boys" after the Bears offense played better, but the team still lost to the Packers. He is also not too worried about calling plays he wants versus what was already in the Bears playbook under his predecessor, Shane Waldron.
"It doesn't matter what I'm comfortable with. I don't play. I can always adapt and adjust," Brown said. "To me, it's my job as a coordinator to adapt and adjust to our players and what those guys do well. It's our job to design a play—and to obviously attack the defense, but also favor what we do well."
Brown said he's trying to alleviate stress on Caleb Williams and his offensive line—as he put it, trying to design "unsackable plays."
That will, of course, be a challenge Sunday against a Vikings defense tied for second in the NFL in sacks per game.