Trestan Ebner is getting ready for a bigger role inside the offense
When the Chicago Bears took the practice field Wednesday at Halas Hall to get ready for Sunday's road game against the Falcons, rookie RB Trestan Ebner was their top running back option.
The Bears placed top rusher, Khalil Herbert, on IR Tuesday with a hip injury that knocked him out of the Week 10 game against the Detroit Lions, and David Montgomery missed practice Wednesday for personal reasons.
This means Ebner could see an increased role in Luke Getsy's offense.
«It's a little nerve-racking because you want to get in and execute,» Ebner said. «You know what the running game means to this offense, so I don't want to let anybody down, any of my teammates down. I like making my fellow running backs proud.»
Ebner has played on offense in four games this season, pilling up 18 carries for 46 yards. When Montgomery went down with an ankle injury in Week 3 against the Texans, then missed Week 4's game against the Giants, Ebner saw the bulk of his production.
"I got some experience with this earlier in the season, so I know what it's like to be down one person," Ebner said. "So I feel like we just handled it well, and we just kept it rolling. You just don't see a step off. And that's the biggest thing I try to focus on is not letting people notice the step off, like, 'ah, he picked up right where Khalil left off' and just keep it pushing like that."
When asked what was the biggest adjustment he has to make, here is what he mentioned.
"Just the speed of things, the physicality of things, you hitting people, people hitting you," Ebner said. "It's not like the only time you're getting contact is in practice, you're actually getting it from somebody that's trying to take your head off in the game. And so I feel like that's a lot better than just getting thrown out into the fire. So I feel like that helps and then it's obviously a difference, offense and special teams, but I feel like it's better to have played a little than not played at all."
