When Grady Jarrett glanced around the huddle Sunday at Soldier Field and saw several new faces, the veteran defensive tackle wasn't concerned at all.
"The mindset is the same regardless," Jarrett said. "We have a standard of football we want to play and that's what we did. So super proud of the guys who stepped up and answered that call. But I'm not surprised at all. We all pay the same price to go out there and sacrifice and play football the Chicago Bears way."
The defense helped the Bears beat the Steelers 31-28 without six injured regulars: End Dayo Odeyingbo; linebackers Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell; and cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. The unit was further depleted during the game when linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson exited with injuries.
Reserves who stepped up included linebackers D'Marco Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga, who established career highs with 15 and 14 tackles, respectively. Jackson's 15 stops were more than he compiled in either of his first two NFL seasons when he had 12 in 2023 and 14 in 2024 with the Saints.
Cornerback Nick McCloud also performed well, registering seven tackles while playing 57 snaps, the second most on the defense.
The offensive line successfully employed a next-man-up mentality as well, playing a third of the game with two rookies. Second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo made his first NFL start at left tackle in place of the injured Theo Benedet, and sixth-round selection Luke Newman was on the field for 22 snaps at right guard while veteran Jonah Jackson was being treated for an eye injury.
Center Drew Dalman described Trapilo and Newman as "two guys that have done a great job of just being really receptive to information, preparing themselves."
"Whether [Trapilo] is playing or not, he's preparing and practicing and dedicating himself to be ready when that situation comes up," Dalman said. "And so that came up, and he was ready to go. A lot of [credit goes] to him for his focus over the course of the season to be ready at this point."
As for Newman, Dalman said: "To come in in the middle of the game like that is challenging and he was ready to go, which is awesome."
Bears reserves have excelled when called upon throughout the season due in large part to how the coaching staff prepares them to play.
"The vision has been from the time we ended training camp that if you're a special teams player on the 53, be ready to be starting at some point on offense or defense," said coach Ben Johnson. "Likewise, if you're a practice squad player, be ready to be called up.
"We've tried to develop them over the course of the year. Our coaching staff, I think they do a really good job of not just coaching the guys that are going to be playing Sunday, but making sure we're coaching the show teams as well. A guy like [assistant offensive line coach] Kyle DeVan, I see him in the show team huddle every single day, and not just to get the right look for our defense, but also to coach up our young offensive linemen to make sure that they're developing also.
"There is a balance of that that goes on. Those guys know that they're not just here to fill a spot; they have a big role to play in terms of what we're doing. So when their number is called, they don't shy away from it."
