Bear Digest

Does Bears Defense Take the Trash-Talking Too Far?

As long as they're also producing, Bears defensive players see benefits by trash-talking to apply even more pressure to opponents.

Gene Chamberlain

Bears DeMarcus Walker (95) and Montez Sweat (98) are two of the biggest trash talkers on defense says T.J. Edwards.
Bears DeMarcus Walker (95) and Montez Sweat (98) are two of the biggest trash talkers on defense says T.J. Edwards. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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Not exactly the most outspoken or abrasive coach in the NFL, Bears coach Matt Eberflus nonetheless sees the value in having a trash-talking defense.

Every day at minicamp and OTA practices the offense must put up with a barrage of big talk and defensive celebrations from the Bears defense. It only promises to get louder by training camp.

"It's been great," Eberflus said. "I tell the players all the time—words are awesome. I love words and I like goals and I do believe in that."

Ah, but the catch. There's always a catch.

"But it comes down to what we do on the grass, right?" Eberflus said. "It's gotta be shown out there. I believe in saying it and being confident and all those things, but it’s in the doin.' It's not in the talkin' about it. It's important that we understand that so that when we start to perform with our pads on, guess what? We have to be who we say we’re gonna be."

This goes without saying, but the big talk can be an asset when combined with good play. The Seattle Seahawks Legion of Boom, with Richard Sherman, could talk anyone off of their game before lowering the boom.

The New Orleans Saints and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had Bears receivers totally defeated mentally during two games in 2020, including a playoff battle. The Bears were bothered to the degree that both Javon Wims and Anthony Miller got ejected for getting physical and retaliating. Meanwhile, the real instigator with his words remained on the field.

"It's intimidating for other people," slot cornerback Kyler Gordon said. "Penople constantly getting hit, constantly running to the ball, all 11 hats. Loud. Communicating loud. I just feel like, 'what are they doing?' So I love it."

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It becomes a case of probing for weakness, according to cornerback Jaylon Johnson. There's plenty of evidence over the years of things like this working to a player's advantage.

Former Vikings defensive tackle John Randle made it into the Hall of Fame and complemented his play with trash talk. He would completely psyche out opponents by picking up little things from media guides, like the name of the wife of a player he was lining up against. Randle would try getting under players' skin from the outset by telling them things.

Some Bears players used to actually enjoy hearing what Randle would come up with and called it wildly entertaining.

"I mean, I feel like it's one thing to make plays but I feel like, like you said, being loud, when you're talking after every play that you really start to see if somebody is going to stand up or if they're going to fold," Johnson said. "And I feel like of course with execution I feel like comes energy. So I feel like for us to have that energy, we've got to execute.

"I feel like with the combination of both, you can definitely make teams fold. I feel like we showed some flashes of that last year where we were dominating, we were able to talk and we kind of seen how people started responding back. And then I feel like for us just being able to keep that foot on the gas and just really finish people off."

The Bears secondary actually started doing this last offseason and training camp in their daily battles with the Bears receivers. They especially got under the skin of Chase Claypool, and there was more than one confrontation.

It's a practice not totally isolated to the back five.

Edge rushers Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker will talk, as well.

"I mean Tez and D-Walk for sure are big into that," linebacker T.J. Edwards said. "Brisk (Jaquan Brisker) will get going a little bit. Me and Maine just fill in when we need to, but it's hard to get a word in sometimes with those two (Walker and Sweat) up there. But we're just having fun, excited to be around each other and we just love to play the game."

The linebackers might not get involved at this as much, particularly T.J. Edwards.

"For me I'm: 'whatever,' " Edwards said. "I don't really have enough energy for that to be honest with you. I'm too tired getting ready for the next play.

"But I think that's football. That's why you love the game to be honest with you. That kind of competitive edge and just seeing what happens out there and I think everyone does it in the league. I think you guys are just seeing it a little bit more of it as of right now."

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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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.