Bears' Jared Allen not concerned about lack of sacks

Chicago Bears defensive end Jared Allen said he is not concerned about his lack of sacks this season. Allen, who missed a game earlier this season with pneumonia, has zero sacks in his first four games with the Bears.

Chicago Bears defensive end Jared Allen said he is not concerned about his lack of sacks this season, Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Allen, who missed a game earlier this season with pneumonia, has zero sacks in his first four games with the Bears. He pointed to his 18 tackles as a sign that he is playing well.

“Goodness, I led the team in tackles [against the Panthers],”

Allen said

Wednesday. “I was laughing with somebody and said, ‘Well, that whole thing about me not playing the run anymore has got to be out the window.’ I think I have a season-high tackle total already.

“If I was playing bad ball, I would let you know. Coming off that Jets game, obviously, I didn’t want to catch pneumonia. I felt I was in a good rhythm coming off that game, and last week, I just could have used some of the weight back on a couple of things.”

• BANKS: The botch hear 'round the world

He said his appetite has returned, but he still weighs less than 250 pounds after losing nearly 20 pounds while he had pneumonia.

Allen is second among active players and 12th all-time in career sacks with 128.5. He had 11.5 sacks and 52 tackles last season for the Minnesota Vikings.

He has recorded at least 11 sacks in each of the past seven seasons and in eight of the 10 seasons in his career.

The Bears have 11.0 sacks as team this season, which is tied for 11th in the league. Defensive end Willie Young leads Chicago with 5.0 sacks this season. 

Chicago ranks 17th in yards allowed per game (362.4) and is giving up the 10th-most points per game (26.2).

Allen signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Bears in the offseason. He played the previous five seasons with the Vikings and set a career-high with 22.0 sacks in 2011. In 2004, he was a fourth-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played four seasons.

The Bears (2-3) travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons (2-3) at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday.

• BURKE: Jets' attitude issues another strike against Rex Ryan

- Paul Palladino