The Bears took guard Kyle Long in the first round with an opponent in mind — Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, arguably the best at his position in the NFL.
And Suh knows it.
“We’ll see how well he is prepared to block me when we play on Sunday,” Suh told Detroit reporters on Wednesday. “That’s their opinion, that’s their choice, that’s their draft. That’s not anything of my concern. I just look forward to and digest whoever I have in front me.
Long and veteran guard Matt Slauson did well against Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkinss in Week 1. Atkins is just as good as Suh, if not better, in some experts’ opinions.
“Geno Atkins wasn’t a factor,” coach Marc Trestman said after the Bears’ victory against the Bengals. “We weren’t going to allow him to destroy the front, which he’s very capable of doing and we’ve seen him do in a number of games that we’ve watched in our preparation.”
Can the Bears do the same against Suh and fellow brute Nick Fairley? Quarterback Jay Cutler has only been sacked three times in three games — one big change from last year.
Even though he’s yet to record a sack, Suh is the top rated defensive tackle at pass rushing, according to Pro Football Focus. He has 17 quarterback hurries.
Suh sees a different Bears offense under Trestman.
“I think the biggest difference is they’ve learned – I don’t if learned, but Jay has gotten the ball out of his hands quite quickly,” Suh said. “Just kind of watching them on Sunday Night Football this past weekend, he did a great job of getting the ball out even with all those pressures that the Steelers were bringing to him.
“Watching some film … it still holds up true that he’s getting the ball out and they’ve kind of changed their offensive route running and how they set up to get the ball out so quickly. That’s something that we’ve definitely noticed.”
Does Suh see it as a compliment that the Bears added Long to help stop him?
“I mean, it’s always nice to be noticed, but to me it’s not necessarily a compliment,” he said. “It’s something that they felt like they needed to do so they did it and I look forward to the challenge.”
