Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington has spent all week being clear with his players about what he wants.
“The No. 1 reason that people fail,” he said, “is that you don’t know who you are.”
The Bears, he said, have a defensive identity that he wants to show Sunday in San Francisco.
“First of all, there’s going to be clarity,” he said. “There’s going to be speed, precision, details. There’s going to be execution. We’re going to understand the strengths of the guys that we have on defense and we’re going to make sure we put forth a plan that accentuates that and puts that forth.
“We have to be smart. We have to make sure that our assignments are clean. We’ve got to do our jobs. And then we’ve got to have a lot of fun together and make sure that the confidence is right and that we’re connected to every situation.”
Washington has been the defensive coordinator all season but took over play-calling for head coach Matt Eberflus when he was fired Friday. It marks the first time he’s called plays in a regular season game since a 2018 stint in Carolina that didn’t last the full season. Washington called plays this preseason, though, when the Bears went 4-0 and gave up 11.75 points per game.
He doesn’t figure to make many changes from Eberflus’ defense. The Bears will still run a base 4-3 set and, like every other team, use a nickel cornerback more often than not.
“You can’t change everything in a week,” linebacker Jack Sanborn said.
Washington doesn’t need to. Eberflus’ fatal flaw was his game management, not his defensive mind. While some players took issues with specific defensive calls — lineman DeMarcus Walker complained to him after the Vikings loss two weeks ago — he crafted a respectable defense. Since the start of last season, the Bears have allowed the 11th-fewest points, the 10th-lowest passer rating and the 11th-fewest rushing yards.
This is not Thomas Brown replacing a drowning Shane Waldron, then.
Washington is focused on the run. The Bears have allowed 4.9 yards per run, which is tied for the third-most in the NFL. Last year they gave up 3.8, the fifth-fewest in the league.
“He’s definitely a defensive lineman through and through,” Sanborn said. “So stopping the run is a priority. And in the pass game, not only generating pressure, but getting your hands up.”
Sanborn was sympathetic to Eberflus, who was fired last Friday.
“Nobody in this locker room wants that to happen, especially midseason … ” he said. “It reflects on all of us.”
Defensive end Darrell Taylor admitted the past week has been “a lot,” but he’s tried not to focus on what it means in the big picture.
“That’s for upstairs — that’s for them to talk about,” he said. “But I can say we put a great guy in position, and we’re excited to have him there.”
Washington first coached defensive line at Northwestern in 2004 before traveling up the Edens Spur to Halas Hall in 2008 as a defensive assistant. He became their defensive line coach in 2010 and held the same position with the Panthers from 2011-17. He joined the Bears in January from Buffalo, where he was defensive line coach and head coach.
Washington called plays for the Panthers in 2018 but had those duties taken away by head coach Ron Rivera after 11 games. Rivera then called plays himself.
It was Washington's only season in that role — until Sunday.
“There is no easy part of calling the game,” Washington said. “But the gotta-have-it situations, the fourth-down plays, the calls that you need to make in the red zone are critical because those things can lead to points. So you have to make sure that you have a really decisive plan, you get the guys the best call that really accentuates what we can do and manages that situation.. And let them go play.”
