BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — The 3-4 defense of the Bears will be in a formative state probably deep into this season. But individual players are making impact plays, and if the Bears want to be the running team that coach John Fox and coordinator Adam Gase envision, they will need to be winning more battles at the point of attack, something not easily done against a front seven that doesn’t always seem to remember that it’s not supposed to be very good.
“Right now we’re still getting everything together, but it’s fun,” said defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff. “It’s providing a lot of freedom for the players, and the players get to take ownership for the defense.