Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams won’t travel with the Bears to Tampa because of personal reasons, leaving head coach Matt Eberflus to call defensive plays against the Buccaneers.
Eberflus said that inheriting the play-calling duties, as opposed to handing them off to a defensive position coach, was in the best interest of the Bears.
“With the defense up, I’ll be making the calls,” he said.
Williams missed practice Thursday and Friday because of what the team called personal reasons. Eberflus said he didn’t have a timeline for when Williams could return.
Eberflus was a defensive coordinator for 12 years — at the University of Missouri from 2001-08 and with the Colts from 2018-22.
“Really it’s more about the operation of the game management side of it,” Eberflus said. “When the offense is up, it’ll be normal business. And then throwing challenge flags and being right there with (offensive coordinator) Luke (Getsy) and the offense.
“With the defense up I’ll be making the calls. When we’re off the field, to make the corrections pretty quick, the (coaches) on the sideline are going to help me do that with the players. And from there it’s just about setting up the next series, what’s coming the next series for those guys, if we can communicate that. And from there it’s just normal.”
Williams is in his second season as the Bears’ defensive coordinator, having come to Chicago alongside Eberflus, his boss with the Colts. Williams was the Vikings’ defensive coordinator from 2012-13 before becoming a secondary coach for the Lions and, later, the Colts.
“Right now, it’s next man up, next coach up,” safety Jaquan Brisker said. “So that’s Coach Flus. It’s his defense. He’s comfortable. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got us ready to go Sunday. I feel like you’re going to see a pretty different defense Sunday.”
In terms of effectiveness, probably. Schematically, linebacker Jack Sanborn expects it to look similar.
“I don’t think it’s going to be anything too crazy,” he said. “Because he’s been here. He’s in a lot of our meetings. It’s obviously his defense. He obviously knows it really well, and I think he knows what he wants to do.”
