Bears DE Yannick Ngakoue to have season-ending surgery on broken ankle
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bear down! It's not just a mantra but something the Bears defense has apparently taken to heart as of late, giving up an average of 12 points over their last two contests.
CBS 2's Matt Zahn had the latest on a big blow to a defense playing its best football all season.
The Bears defense, which has been performing great in recent games, will play the rest of the season without defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
Ngakoue, who's recorded two sacks in the last four games, broke his ankle against the Detroit Lions and needs season-ending surgery.
"He brings a different type of speed and agility to the game," said defensive tackle Justin Jones. "[Montez Sweat] is the more powerful guy....Yannick is more speed an agile coming off the edge. We're missing that."
So how does head coach Matt Eberflus plan to compensate for the loss of Ngakoue to his defense?
"Blitz every snap," Eberflus said, engendering laughter during his press conference. "It's everybody just step up and step into their roles and lean into it. When you have injury, you have an opportunity for people."
Quarterback Justin Fields admitted he's frustrated that opposing defenders aren't getting flagged for a seemingly excessive amount of hits on him after the whistle. That's odespite his efforts to bring such hits to the officials' attention.
"I talk to them before every game," Fields said. "Literally talk to refs before every game. It happened on the first play of the game and didn't get a call. So I can't really do anything about it."
An improved pocket presence has helped Fields avoid some of those hits. As he put it, last year, he would just escape the pocket or run for no reason.
This year, he said he has a better feel for the pocket and his own mental clock.