Bears looking for more production, consistency from rushing attack

Chicago Bears coordinators and assistant coaches met with reporters Friday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest as the team continued preparing for its Monday night game against the Washington Commanders.

It was the first time in a couple of weeks that the group met with reporters after the team’s Week 4 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Chicago had a bye last week and only held availability with head coach Ben Johnson.

The Bears will face a tough test going against the Commanders in front of a national audience Monday night. Not only does Chicago need to find ways to stop a Washington team that’s a contender in the NFC on the road. But the Bears also have some of their own issues they’ll need to resolve in order to win Monday.

Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Friday.

On fixing the running game

The Bears entered the season with questions about whether Bears general manager Ryan Poles should’ve added more to the running back room over the off-season. Poles’ lone major addition came in the seventh round of this year’s draft when he selected Kyle Monangai.

Four games in, it doesn’t look like it was enough. Heading into the weekend, the Bears ranked 24th with 102.3 rushing yards a game. Top running back D’Andre Swift hasn’t rushed for more than 63 yards in a game, while quarterback Caleb Williams is second on the team with 110 rushing yards this season.

The frustrating part is that the Bears have flashed that they run the ball well. They ran it well against the Raiders in their game-winning drive and in their Week 3 win against the Dallas Cowboys. But it hasn’t come on a consistent enough basis for it to make a difference.

“You want it to be consistent and so anything less than it being right all the time isn’t consistent enough,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “I think we flash at times. At times you see it and you’re like, ‘That’s what it looks like.’ But you want it to look that way all the time and that’s really the purpose of practice is going out there and ingraining habits so that on game day you’re not thinking about anything, you’re just going out there and playing and you’re bringing those habits really to light for everybody to see.”

Johnson had previously said fixing the run game won’t be solved by focusing on issue. Doyle reinforced that idea Friday and explained what they’re looking for as a group.

It starts with the offensive line and tight ends running off the ball well and using a quarterback’s cadence to their advantage. The running back needs to read the field well and see what’s open, trying to get to the third level of the defense and pick up at least 4.5 yards. Wide receivers also need to do block the perimeter well while the quarterback sells the potential of a pass play as long as possible.

All of that hasn’t come together four weeks in. But Bears coaches remained encouraged that it would.

“Obviously, we haven’t had the success that we wanted to to have,” running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said. “But one thing I will say: Our guys are fighting their [butts] off up front. Guys are playing hard and we’re running hard. We’ll continue cleaning up all the rest of the issues that are taking place.”

On evaluating the starting left tackle battle

The starting left tackle competition continued Friday with no starter named. Johnson will next meet with reporters on Saturday and could announce one then. But how the competition opened back up became clearer on Friday.

Johnson replaced starter Braxton Jones with Theo Benedet against the Raiders when he saw an opportunity to make a change after a poor start. Jones had been named the starter at the beginning of the year after a competition in training camp. Benedet handled the left tackle spot well after moving over from the right side, and the offense built momentum.

Bears coaches have seen growth from Benedet, an undrafted rookie who missed all of last season, since he entered the competition at left tackle. Benedet wasn’t consistent enough during camp. But he developed over the first four weeks to make the starting spot a question.

“Even since then, he’s just continued to progress and get better,” Doyle said. “But it wasn’t like he went out there and it was too big for him in any way. His mentality and how he approaches the game, I think it’s been consistent since we’ve been here.”

Jones has also handled the situation well, according to coaches. Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar said the past week has been a good opportunity for Jones to decompress and get back into the competition.

“He’s a pro,” Roushar said. “He’s got to be ready to go like immediately and he’s preparing just like he’s a starter. We certainly haven’t made any of these decisions, but he’s preparing that way. His efforts been that way. I don’t see any changes at all. So I’ve been really pleased with the way he’s approached this.”

On limiting explosive special teams plays

When Johnson told reporters earlier in the week that the Bears need to play complementary football in order to beat the Commanders, he made it a point to mention Washington’s special teams. Johnson said the unit plays violent, fast and physical, something that exemplifies its head coach, Dan Quinn.

“They just have a lot of them,” Bears special team coordinator Richard Hightower said. “They’ve got a “Dream Team,” honestly, if you want to know the truth, on special teams. They’ve got a lot of good players."

Washington’s style of play has translated to success. The Commanders head into the weekend averaging an NFL-high 33.2 yards per kickoff return. They also rank seventh in punt return, averaging 14.8 yards per return.

The Commanders have a two-headed monster when it comes to kickoff returns. Luke McCaffrey leads the team with 377 return yards off 12 returns, while veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel has also made a special teams impact with his new team — he’s returned six kickoffs for 221 yards.

Jaylin Lane has made an impact in the punt-return game. He’s returned 12 punts for 177 yards, including a touchdown.

Special teams saved the day for the Bears when Josh Blackwell blocked a field goal to preserve a win over the Raiders. Chicago will need more impact plays to stop the Commanders.

“We got to be ready,” Hightower said. “We got to be on our stuff this week in order to give ourselves a chance to factor in this football game.”