LIKING WHERE HE’S STANDING
Houston thinks Bears have the LBs they need in him, Young and McPhee
After he completed his comeback season but before he went overseas this winter to train — in Turkey, of all places — linebacker Lamarr Houston met with his Bears bosses.
‘‘They were very happy with what I did, and they were very impressed and pleased, especially coming off the [knee] surgery,’’ Houston said this week. ‘‘They were encouraged, and they’re looking forward to next year, in starting to develop our game plan, to build throughout the offseason and have a final product at the beginning of the season. It’s really encouraging and exciting.’’
Houston plans to be a part of it. He couldn’t say if the Bears were in position to add another outside linebacker — be it in free agency starting next week or via the draft next month — but he said they shouldn’t have to.
Houston, who hada careerhigh eight sacks last season, believes the combination of him, Willie Young and a healthy Pernell McPhee will dominate next season.
‘‘Vets that are good are only going to be positive benefits to your team,’’ he said. ‘‘I would keep them around, and if they’re very productive at a high level, I’d play those guys.’’
The Bears owe Houston $5.95 million next season, but it’s not guaranteed. While they could move Houston or Young — who’s entering the final year of his contract— it wouldn’t be because of a salary-cap crunch. The Bears have ample space.
The Denver Broncos’ success has made edge rushers as valuable as ever. Parting with a solid one such as Houston could be danger- ous, particularly if the Bears had to replace him at an inflated market price.
The Bears could be intrigued, too, by Houston’s success as he moves further from his October 2014 injury, a torn-up knee while celebrating his only sack that season. Seven of his eight sacks in 2015 came in the last nine weeks of the season, when his playing time increased in part because of McPhee’s knee injury.
After struggling to find the field earlier in the season, Houston played 237 of his 405 snaps in the Bears’ final six weeks. He finished as their sack leader despite playing only 40.5 percent of the defensive downs.
Houston moved to outside linebacker from defensive end last year after recovering from his injury, which occurred eight games into a five-year, $35 million deal. The switch wasn’t much of an adjustment — he was comfortable rushing from a standing position with the OaklandRaiders from2010 to 2013— but it’s less of one now.
‘‘I was happy to go back to what I thought I did very well anyways,’’ he said. ‘‘For me, I thought it was a great thing. I came off the injury [and] I was able to do something I felt comfortable doing. I was adjusting, I guess you could say, and now I feel more comfortable.’’
He flew halfway across the world to make sure his body continued to feel that way. After tasking his agent to find a place to train — he considered locations in France, Israel and Switzerland — he traveled to Antalya, on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, in January.
Houston trained at the Gloria Sports Arena alongside the Polish soccer team. Hehad his ligaments mapped andworked on core stabilization. He used a freezing-cold cryotherapy chamber, which was oddly refreshing.
Now he’ll spend the rest of the offseason in a slightly warmer place: Chicago.
‘‘I think it’s exciting that we’ve got a lot to build on,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve got great guys in my room that are capable of producing at a high level. And I think this defense is going in the right direction. I think we finished the season strong, and we’re going to start the season strong.’’