The Chicago Bears will try to bring an end to their three-game losing streak Sunday when they play the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Johnson struggled physically and in coverage at times, most notably when he was beaten by receiver Tom Kennedy for a 44-yard gain on the Lions’ game-winning 91-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes. Johnson said his oblique bothered him “from Play 1.” “When Jaylon hasn’t performed up to his standards, you can almost bet the next week is going to be better,” Williams said. “He’s prideful, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s mentally stable. I guarantee you this week will be better than last week.”
Bears fans are familiar with what a special athlete Patterson is from his two years in Chicago as an All-Pro returner. But over the last two seasons, the Falcons have been able to use Patterson on offense better than any team has during his 10-year career with five teams. “You talk about a receiver that has the whole route tree, he’s a running back that has the whole — I’m just making this up — the run tree so to speak, that he runs inside, he runs outside, he runs powers. So it’s not one thing where you say, ‘Hey, when he’s in there, he’s going to be running perimeter runs.’ He runs them all, so you have to defend him like a running back. And then when they put him out wide, you have to defend him like a receiver.
It was a notable admission from a player who has been carrying the offense for the past month. The NFL’s sixth leading rusher, Fields has carried the ball 104 times this season and 62 times over the five games. That’s not an unfathomable workload by any means. But for the Bears’ most important player, that soreness requires monitoring as well as adjustments during the week.“My legs just felt heavy after the game,” he said. “The guys on our strength staff said my load has been pretty high.