Veteran safety Demps may be Bears' missing link
In the past two years, the Bears' unprecedented inability to pick off opposing passes has been a glaring weakness.
Only the Jacksonville Jaguars had fewer interceptions last year than the Bears' 8. That tied the franchise low for a 16-game season, which was established by the 2015 team.
But the addition of nine-year veteran safety Quintin Demps directly addresses that deficiency.
Demps had a career-best 6 interceptions last season for the Houston Texans' NFL-best defense, and he's picked off 15 passes in the past four seasons. In the last seven seasons, only one Bears player has intercepted as many as 6 passes, and that was in 2012, when cornerback Tim Jennings picked off 9.
It's been 26 years since a Bears safety had as many as 6 interceptions, going back to Mark Carrier's rookie season of 1990, when he had 9.
Demps says there's no secret to making plays on the ball.
"Just (use) your eyes," he said. "You have to be disciplined. You have to let it come to you, man. You can't force it. Because then you're going to give up something.
"I think that starts on the back end with communication, making sure we're all on the same page. Then it's making sure we catch the ones that they throw us. A lot of times we drop those picks, so we have to work (on) our hands. So you have to wait, be patient and let it come to you."
If anyone knows about patience, it's the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Demps. He's started 41 in the past four seasons. But he didn't start a single game in his first five years in the league after being drafted in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 out of Texas-El Paso.
"I thought about quitting a couple times," he said, "just because of adversity. I knew I wasn't going to quit though. I couldn't quit. You handle it by being positive, by taking it one day at a time and just realizing the big picture of life.
"If you're able to walk and breathe the next day, just get up and press forward. Get up and keep going at whatever it is you're trying to get."
Demps will turn 32 before training camp starts, an age that turns off most buyers in the free-agent market. But he seems to be getting better, not older.
"Sprinkling in a couple vets here and there, sometimes can be good," said Bears GM Ryan Pace, who lured Demps with a three-year, $13.5 million contract offer. "He's still showing his speed. He's still showing his ball skills. Going all the way back to UTEP, he's just always around the football."
Demps' 17 interceptions at UTEP are second in school history, and his 404 interceptions-return yards are No. 1. He returned 3 picks for touchdowns, tied for second at the school.
Demps should immediately assume a position of leadership in a secondary that employed eight players 25 or younger in 2016.
"To have him in the mix is kind of a calming presence, a veteran presence," Pace said. "I think he's going to provide that."
The age question is one Demps hears a lot, but "age is just a number," he said. "I'll be 32 in June, but the tape might have said I was 25, which is the most important thing. I know what I bring to the table, and we'll see if I can play like Charles Woodson, until I'm 38."
If Demps keeps picking off passes at the rate he did last season, the Bears might not even let him retire then.
• Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere.