Coach Eberflus praises key defensive addition
Kevin Fishbain reported that Bears head coach Matt Eberflus had high praises for new addition DL Justin Jones.
Here is Eberflus on his pitch to Justin Jones to be the Bears' three-tech:
"You look at what the man can do physically and how he fits into your defense, and you just talk to him about that. I think that he was excited. ... I was excited for him because it's a good fit."
This means that he believes Jones could play the defensive 3 technique position next season, or at least be a part of the rotation at this spot. A rotation is an interesting scenario because we have seen in the past with the Bears that by playing no more than 80% of the snaps on the interior defensive line, players can play at a higher level of intensity. This also implies that you must have a lot of depth at this position.
Justin Jones is 25. He was drafted by the Chargers in the 3rd round of the 2018 NFL draft. After appearing in 15 games during his rookie season, Jones stepped into a starting role along the D-line. He's been the Chargers' best run stopper over the last three years. Even though their defense was not great, this still means something.
In fact, in games he missed, Chargers opponents had 173 rush yards per game. In the games he played, that number went down to 120 yards per game. Safe to say he wasn't the problem.
Jones himself tweeted out to say how he can't wait for next season:
