Bears fans got an early glimpse of Coby Bryant, Dillon Thieneman building on-field chemistry during first day of OTAs
The Chicago Bears new safety duo of Coby Bryant and first-round rookie Dillon Thieneman took to the field together for the first time during the first day of organized team activities on Wednesday.
The Chicago Bears made the tough decision to completely revamp the safety room this offseason after parting ways with All-Pro team captain Kevin Byard III and former second-round pick Jaquan Brisker, among other departing players from the secondary.
In order to keep that group a strength of the defense, the Bears needed to find at least two starters at the safety position. The first move involved signing Super Bowl champ Coby Bryant to a three-year, $40 million. To fill the other starting position, the Bears used the 25th overall pick in the first-round to select Dillon Thieneman.
This week, Bears fans will finally get a chance to see the team’s new safety duo in action during organized team activities, which officially kicked off on Wednesday, although without reporters in attendance.
Chicago Bears new safety duo eager to start building that on-field chemistry at OTAs
The Bears’ coaching staff first got to work with Thieneman and see him in action during rookie minicamp earlier this month. Already, the staff was blown away by his athleticism and football knowledge while getting him to learn essentially every position in the secondary. Speaking with reporters at rookie minicamp, Thieneman expressed his excitement for OTAs and finally being able to get on the field with Bryant.
“First is just getting to know him, personally and what he’s like off the field. Building that connection and relationship there. And then once you get on the field, start making calls and asking questions and we’ll get on the same page,” Thieneman said of Bryant. “Once you get to a certain level, you almost don’t have to talk because you’re thinking about the same thing.”
During Wednesday’s practice session, the team’s social media account posted a video of Bryant in action with Thieneman working next to him. Earlier in the week, Bryant shared what his first impressions have been of his new rookie counterpart.
“Just watching the film of him coming out, he’s obviously a great player,” Bryant said of Thieneman on NFL Network’s The Insiders. “Right now he’s a rookie, so he’s not saying too much. Which is a good and a bad thing too. I’m excited to be able to play with him and I know he’s going to help this team tremendously. We look forward to playing together.”
Versatility is going to be something to watch when it comes to the deployment of Bryant and Thieneman
Compared to the previous safety duo, the combination of Bryant and Thieneman will allow Dennis Allen to get more creative with how he deploys his two safeties. Both players pride themselves on being versatile, including Bryant who played multiple positions in Seattle.
“Versatility is key [in] this league, and so he’s a guy that can play in the box,” safeties coach Matt Giordano said of Bryant. “You see him making plays as a post player, you see him making plays a deep half player ,and then you see him making plays all over the field, whether it’s in coverage or as a blitzer. Versatility is key and it makes any defense even more powerful, so we’re looking forward to using that this season.”
Bryant should be comfortable with what the Bears will be asking him to do given his experience with the Seahawks. For Thieneman, the plan is to have the rookie drinking from a firehose.
“We’re not holding back,” DBs coach Al Harris said. “Between myself, DA, Coach Giordano, [nickel backs coach] Cannon Matthews, just give it to him and he’s going to absorb the information.”
It’s a big gamble reshaping the entire backend of the secondary, especially after the success the unit had last season taking the ball away. However, the early signs of what Bryant and Thieneman can do together add even more excitement for this group.
“I think right now, man, we’ve got a really good group back there with those two players,” Harris said. “Both playmakers, similar to what we had last year. Two really good back-end pieces. So I think it’ll be awesome, awesome for us to have those two players back there. With Coby, the success he’s had, Dillon with the success he’s had in college, I think it’s going to be great.”