The Refreshing Change for Jeremiah Attaochu

The switch by the Bears to a 4-3 defense doesn't get Jeremiah Attaochu down.

Well, actually it literally does, but the veteran outside pass rusher likes it.

Attaochu fell through the cracks of a Bears rebuild and it's almost as if he dropped on the floor, coaches found him, gave him the once-over and said, "look what we have here."

"He's a defensive end in our system," defensive line coach Travis Smith said.

It needed clarification because Attaochu hasn't played defensive end in a 4-3 since he wore the colors of Georgia Tech's Ramblin' Wreck. That was 2013 when he finished as the school's all-time sacks leader, but did it largely as a stand-up linebacker.  

It's been eight NFL seasons as a stand-up outside linebacker in 3-4 defensive schemes and 20 1/2 sacks in that time to show for it. The way this former second-round draft pick figures it, trying something new could be beneficial at the age of 29. So his hand is in the ground and he likes it.

"For sure, I'm definitely excited about this scheme," Attaochu said. "I get to do one job and that's get off the ball, get in a track stance and use my athleticism.

"Being very versatile most of my career, standing up, dropping, I think it takes the thinking out it for a guy with superior athleticism. So a guy that can get off the ball before everybody else, beat the O-lineman out of his stance, use my quickness, use my speed, so I definitely fit in very well."

Actually there was one brief period when he was a candidate in a 4-3 defense at down lineman but he never had a chance to develop. In 2017 when the Chargers switched to a 4-3 defensive scheme under coordinator Gus Bradley for Anthony Lynnn's first year as head coach, Attaochu was a end.

However, a hamstring injury sidelined Attaochu in training camp and for the season's first two games. He never really got the chance then, making it onto the field in four games for 59 defensive plays before being set aside as a healthy scratch for the rest of the season.

A second-round draft pick, it's always possible Attaochu just needed that chance it seemed he might get with the Chargers and do only one thing, rather than try to play like Khalil Mack and drop into occasional pass coverage as a stand-up edge.

"It makes my job easier from anything I've had to do in the NFL," Attaochu said. "So, good."

The Bears brought Attaochu here last year as the key third pass rusher, someone who could be productive while Mack and Robert Quinn took a series or two off. In his fifth game and still looking for his first Bears sack, Attaochu suffered a season-ending torn pec muscle during a 20-9 win at Las Vegas over the Raiders.

"Definitely was disappointing," Attaochu said. "I felt like I had a great offseason, and I felt like I was going to have a good year. The recovery here went great, the training staff did a great job of giving me stuff to do, and that just came around pretty quick.

"It was a pretty straightforward fix and move-on type thing."

While mending he had to observe last year's debacle as the Matt Nagy and 3-4 defensive era for Chicago all came to a complete halt.

"It was definitely tough," he said. "I just had to keep my mind in it and stay around the building and try to encourage and motivate.

"The season didn't go the way a lot of people wanted it to go last year, so I couldn't just dwell on my misfortune. I had to be around the coaches and support them that way."

At 6-3, 262, the weight wouldn't let Attaochu play linebacker in this system.  Yet, there's no real reason to think he'd fail to adapt at end in a 4-3. Quinn is only 245 pounds.

The Bears edge mix currently looks deep, with Quinn, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Trevis Gipson and rookie Dominique Robinson besides Attaochu. There is also practice squad player Charles Snowden.

Muhammad still hasn't practiced with the Bears, although he has come in for the end of OTAs and next week's mandatory minicamp. 

Aside from Quinn and Attaochu, there are 18 total career sacks among the other edge rushers, 11 from Muhammad and seven from Gipson. Quinn had half a sack more than that by himself last year alone in setting the franchise record, so the Bears could use an effective Attaochu.

"Everyone knows the lifespan of an NFL player is not very long," Smith said. "And he's been in the league, what is it, seven, eight (years), I don't know exectly, because he's a veteran and he's done things the right way.

"And so we're excited to have him in the mix there and compete with the other guys, with the younger guys and old guys and be another edge end."

If all rumors prove true and Quinn actually does get traded, then they could definitely use the help at outside rusher, from a track stance or otherwise.