With veteran defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff suspended for the first three games of the season, Jarvis Jenkins intends to assume more of a leadership role with the Bears.
Jenkins, who has been working with the No. 1 defense at end, signed with the Bears in March after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins.
"You always want to have a guy that can set the tone and set the example on the defensive line because the defensive line is the heartbeat of the defense," Jenkins said.
"If I get those guys going and we get the defense humming and shooting missiles, they'll look back and say, 'who's leading on that defense, who's causing those guys to do that,' and that's something I'm going to take responsibility for.