Ron Rivera likes what he sees in his defense.
“I think what’s been interesting is really not just what Jack [Del Rio] and the defensive staff have come up, but the way they’ve been using the different personnel groupings. And then with the injury to Cole [Holcomb]. Some of the creative ideas they’ve come up with and how they’ve used the different players. I mean, one of the things that we’ve talked about a lot has been positional flex. And when you have guys that can play, whether it’s safety and then come down the box and play the buffalo or a corner that come and play the nickel, a defensive end that can play like a standup Will linebacker and a three four. They’ve gotten creative with their guys and that’s been very impressive.”
“The play on the goal line against Indianapolis. He [Del Rio] called a specific call for Jamin [Davis] when he went downhill, went through the crease, and made the play. I mean that was a confidence play.”
Left guards must hate going against Jonathan Allen pic.twitter.com/qnH2idDz72
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) November 17, 2022
Rivera coached with Texans head coach Lovie Smith as a Bears assistant and is familiar with what he sees watching Texans game footage.
“They want to be a physical running team, live off the play action and play stout defense. I know it’s very simplified, but you know, having been around coach, that’s kind of what we did in Chicago back in 2004-2006.”
Rivera is encouraged by the progress of second-year safety Darrick Forrest.
“You’ve seen him take that step forward on the mental aspect of the game, he’s a very bright young man. He’s very eager, he practices the right way. He wants to see it and walk through it. If he’s wrong, he wants to see it again. He asks a lot of good questions. ”
Rivera said when Chase Young returns they are going to be very structured and safe in how many game snaps he receives.
“It’ll be a pitch count and something we’ll have to monitor closely. Again, because the big part of it is, especially right now is you want to get as close as you can to live action and you really can’t. So we have to try and figure out how he can get as many good reps in these next couple of days to get a good gauge as to where he is.”
Also, Cole Holcomb is trying to get back into action as soon as possible.
“They had him outside running on the grass today. We’ll see how he responds. Because of the short turnaround, today was a walk-through practice for the most part to try and give our guys a little extra time. It was an opportunity for the coaches to, to dive into the first and second down practice day typically, which is what our Wednesday is.”
