Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams won’t travel with the Bears to Tampa because of personal reasons, leaving head coach Matt Eberflus to call plays against the Buccaneers.
Eberflus was a defensive coordinator for 12 years — at the University of Missouri from 2001-08 and with the Colts from 2018-22. The scheme the Bears run is his.
He said taking over play-calling duties, as opposed to handing them off to a position coach, was “the best way to go for our defense.” Eberflus said he’ll be able to conduct his duties and both coach and coordinator on the sideline.
“When the offense is up, it’ll be normal business,” he said. “And then throwing challenge flags and being right there with (offensive coordinator) Luke (Getsy) and the offense.
“With the defense up I’ll be making the calls. When we’re off the field, to make the corrections pretty quick, the (coaches) on the sideline are going to help me do that with the players. And from there it’s just about setting up the next series, what’s coming the next series for those guys, if we can communicate that. And from there it’s just normal.”
Williams, who missed practice this week, is in his second season as the Bears’ defensive coordinator. Eberflus did not give a timeline for his return.
“Right now, it’s next man up, next coach up,” safety Jaquan Brisker said. “So that’s Coach Flus. It’s his defense. He’s comfortable. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got us ready to go Sunday. I feel like you’re going to see a pretty different defense Sunday.”
In terms of effectiveness, maybe. Schematically, linebacker Jack Sanborn expects it to look similar.
“I don’t think it’s going to be anything too crazy,” Sanborn said. “Because he’s been here. He’s in a lot of our meetings. It’s obviously his defense. He obviously knows it really well, and I think he knows what he wants to do.”
