LB Nicholas Morrow is loving his new role with the Bears
With Roquan Smith occupying the weak-side linebacker role in Matt Eberflus' defense, it's newcomer Nicholas Morrow who will be calling the plays as the middle linebacker for the Bears.
Morrow has been lining up at the MIKE linebacker position since the spring, so it's not a surprise that he'll be doing it on a permanent basis. Given the importance of the WILL linebacker in Eberflus' defense, putting Smith in that position makes a ton of sense.
Morrow suffered a season-ending ankle injury last season. There was immediate frustration. Up until 2020, Morrow had never missed a single game in his football career, let alone an entire season.
In the first two or three weeks following the injury, Morrow feared he'd never return as the same player.
"It was tough, just going through the rehab process," Morrow said. "Initially, not knowing if I could ever really run again, because the mobility was kind of a factor. I was running really weird, kind of with a limp. So, I was like, 'I don't know.'"
This offseason, Morrow signed a one-year contract with the Bears. One of the bigger reasons was clearly the fact that he would be playing for HC Matt Eberflus. He was looking forward to finding a place in that system.
Eberflus is also very happy with the way Morrow has looked so far in camp and preseason.
"It just shows when a guy wants to study the game and sees good football, that means he loves football," Eberflus said. "You can tell that by his actions, the way he practices, the way he studies, the way he looks at the game. And that's what we want. We want guys that are passionate, guys that love football, want to put the time in, and you've got to be willing to put the energy out on the field that way. That's what Nick's doing now."
Here is Morrow making a key stop against the Chiefs during the preseason opener:
