Bear Digest

Bears Looking for More Than Deflections from Gervon Dexter

The knack for swatting down passes is natural for a tall defensive tackle but the Bears need to see 3-technique Gervon Dexter doing more in practice and in preseason against the Bills.

Gene Chamberlain

Gevon Dexter celebrates with DeMarcus Walker (left) and Tremaine Edmunds (right) after knocking down a pass last year.
Gevon Dexter celebrates with DeMarcus Walker (left) and Tremaine Edmunds (right) after knocking down a pass last year. / Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
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At the moment, the Bears know Gervon Dexter can use his 6-foot-6 frame and long reach to bat down an occasional pass.

They need to see more because of the importance of the 3-technique defensive tackle in Matt Eberflus' scheme.

Dexter should always be able to swat away a pass or two.

"I think it's natural," Dexter said. "I've got long arms. I’m a bigger, taller guy, so if there’s a situation where I can't get all the way to the quarterback and get that sack, you've got to get your hands up and get some tipped passes and those turn into turnovers and that's what we want as a defense."

The Colts defense Matt Eberflus had took off once they had 6-7 DeForest Buckner manning 3-technique and forcing QBs to the edge or to alter their throwing lane.

However, Dexter isn't going to make his money playing middle hitter on a volleyball court. He's doing it playing defensive tackle.

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So he needs to get into a gap and threaten the passer, in addition to disrupting the run. He showed promise but his height was a problem last year as he wasn't low enough as he got into the gap. It's his "get-off" of the ball where the Bears are trying to do the most work in practice. They'd like to see improvement in his first live game action Saturday against the Bills.

“We work it every day," Dexter said. "We do get-offs, that's the first thing as a unit, in a D-line group, we go get-offs. So just working it and keying it. I talk to a lot of people and ask what are you keying here during the offseason and now I'm keying some of the right things. So I see something move and I'm going."

Even the best defensive tackles aren't getting to the quarterback a lot of the time, so the height can prove beneficial. It's more of a learned ability for Dexter to swat down passes, because he said he didn't do it much at Florida even though their scheme was a read-and-react one that had him standing in position to do this more.

"I think we spend so much time talking about the system that he played in and the system that we play in," Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith said. "Obviously it was a big change, obviously the second year in the system for all of them, the people that have been here, there’s more comfortability with it. We've created better habits, we have a little big more intensity, violence and speed to how we play.'

The other aspect is simple better awareness for Dexter and also for second-year tackle Zacch Pickens of game situations and the scheme.

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"He's in Year 2, and along with some of the other guys too, they have a better awareness pre-snap of what's the situation, where are we on the field, 'OK, 11 personnel. Ooh it’s empty.' If there's no chippers in empty we've got to make sure ball's coming out quick so I've got to make my one run rush move and then I've got to play the front hand of the quarterback where if that (QB's) hand's off the ball, my hands are going up."

The way both Dexter and Pickens trained and made their bodies leaner but stronger has helped their get-off.

"I think No. 1, obviously, he's got great size," Smith said. "He and Zacch both have changed their bodies a lot where they are much stronger, they've got a little bit more twitch, they're in better shape.

"Two, we've really made an awareness with where the league is going, obviously our job is to affect the quarterback but in today's league the ball comes out so quick, there's so many quick different quick passing, whether it's empty or release the back pass."

So the hands are up.

Now the Bears need to see Dexter pick up the pace as the run stuffer in the backfield who doesn't get out of his gap but disrupts the flow of the run blocking.

And they need him to close some of those pass rushes when he doesn't simply have his hands up playing volleyball.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.