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Eric Washington believes veteran pass rusher will make a 'significant leap' against the Cardinals following his Bears debut in Week 8
As the Chicago Bears get set to take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9, a veteran defender will be in line for more opportunities to dominate on Sunday.
After making a big impact in his Chicago Bears debut against the Washington Commanders, defensive coordinator Eric Washington is creating a larger role for pass rusher Jacob Martin.
In his first game as a Bear, Martin played just 15 total defensive snaps but had the highest PFF grade on the Bears defense after having three pressures and one QB hit.
"The energy was obvious," Washington said about Martin's debut. "His energy, the speed, the quickness, the toughness. I thought he did some really nice things as an edge rusher. I thought he was in position a couple of times to not only affect the quarterback but to hit him. I'm looking forward to him taking a pretty significant leap this week."
Martin's debut gave the Bears yet another piece to work into what has become a dominant defensive front this season. Through seven games, the Bears have 14 different players who have recorded a sack and five players with 14+ pressures.
Rotating the front has been a very effective strategy for the defense, even if it's been met with concerns when certain players, such as Pro Bowl edge rusher Montez Sweat, are taken off the field in various situations.
"The reason we dress the number of players that we have is to make sure that we can keep our rotation and the guys on the line of scrimmage fresh," Washington said. "Montez is part of that, but you also want him in the game in what we call 'a got to have it situation'. Travis has done a really good job managing that, making sure that we don't overuse but we have those types of guys ready for the moments we need them the most."
It seems like the plan is to turn Martin into another one of those key players, and there's no better time to ramp him up than this week.
The Bears still don't know if they will have their top pass rusher or not on Sunday against the Cardinals. Sweat left the game last week with a shin injury that's put his availability for Sunday's game into question.
If the Bears are going to be without Sweat on Sunday, it's going to be a major blow to the rotation that will force the rest of the stable to adjust accordingly.
"He's one of those guys that you have to account for offensively," Washington explained about Sweat. "The other benefit of having a player like Montez is some of the rush production is spread out amongst the other guys on the defensive line."
Without him in the lineup, the emphasis is going to change and alter some of the favorable matchups other defenders have gotten this season. If that's the case, they'll need a guy like Martin to rise up to the occasion in his second game with the team.
