A Chicago Bears defensive lineman dropped a quote about last season that could give some fans worry as to the ability of the current coaching staff to develop their talent.
Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff went 3-14 last season, which earned the Bears the worst record in the NFL for their inaugural campaign. The final results weren’t too shocking, as the Bears stripped their best talent (think Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, etc.) before and during the season. There is nothing Eberflus and his staff could do to make that group a playoff team last year.
However, one way to judge a coaching staff, besides their record, is how they develop players. Defensive end Dominique Robinson, who the Bears took in the fifth round in the 2022 draft, recently opened up on how he and second-year left tackle Braxton Jones plan to better themselves before the regular season.
His answer inadvertently opened up the coaching staff for criticism on how they are developing talent.
The Chicago Bears coaching staff missed something critical
According to Kevin Fishbain with The Athletic, Robinson said he is adding power to his pass-rushing tool bag. Robinson said he never used power last season, including when he went up against Jones in practice. Robinson said not using the power technique hurt Jones, as Jones struggled to defend pass rushers who used the power technique last season:
One major change is how Robinson is using power. He relied on his speed and length in the opener but said he never used power — including in practice. That had a compounding effect because it meant left tackle Braxton Jones also didn’t get to face Robinson’s power moves in practice.
“That was something that me and Braxton both talked about once we came back for OTAs,” Robinson said. “We didn’t help each other at all with that, because he kind of struggled with that and I didn’t use it at all. It was one of those things where we went up against each other almost every day in practice and it never happened. That definitely has changed within these early practices.”
Do what?
Braxton Jones and Dominique Robinson are a year behind
Where was the coaching staff last season? Jones and Robinson were both rookies last season. It’s up to Eberflus and his staff to develop the young talent they have to fit their new system.
That was the point of the painful rebuild the Bears started last year. General manager Ryan Poles wants to build through the draft.
Offensive line coach Chris Morgan and defensive line coach Travis Smith needed to notice Jones and Robinson were struggling with power rushing. It’s inexcusable they weren’t able to coach them up last season. It’s even more embarrassing Jones and Robinson came to this conclusion without a coach’s pointers during OTAs.
Where is the coaching staff this season?
Now Jones and Robinson enter the 2023 season a year behind in their development.
The Bears invested heavily in the trenches in this year’s draft. The Bears took right tackle Darnell Wright with the tenth overall pick. They added defensive tackle Gervon Dexter in the second round and defensive tackle Zacch Pickens in the third round. Hopefully, the coaching staff learns from Robinson’s statement this season and coaches these young players up.
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