THE SWOON AND THE STARS
Defensive starters have off night, but Hicks, Floyd excel
The Bears’ first-team defense was shaky at best in its preseason debut Thursday night against the Bengals. But for two cornerstones, defensive end Akiem Hicks and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, it was a pretty good start.
Even as the starting defense — minus linebacker Danny Trevathan, cornerback Prince Amukamara and first-round draft pick Roquan Smith — was allowing 139 yards and two touchdowns on 16 plays in a three-series stint, Hicks and Floyd were noticeably effective and did nothing to dampen training-camp indications that both are on pace for productive seasons with Pro Bowl potential.
“I’m a monster. I like that,” Hicks said.
“I felt good. I’m looking forward to the next game already,” Floyd said.
Coming off back-to-back stellar 16-game seasons (seven sacks in 2016, 8½ sacks and 15 tackles for loss in 2017) since signing with the Bears, Hicks is on automatic pilot as he heads into his seventh season in the NFL and fifth as a full-time starter.
“It was definitely good to get back out there and get back in the swing of things, as far as live action is concerned,” Hicks said. “Just getting out and competing against somebody other than your own teammates. All the same stuff that happens every season. You just get that first taste and enjoy it.”
Floyd is coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. The former first-round draft pick missed four games as a rookie and six games last season with injuries. He has been productive when healthy — seven sacks as a rookie, 4½ last season. But while Hicks is in a routine, Floyd is still learning and growing, with a high ceiling and a lot to prove. His pressure on Andy Dalton played a part in Kyle Fuller’s interception and 47-yard return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
“I felt good just to get out there and get my feet wet. I haven’t played since I got injured [Week 11 against the Lions],” Floyd said. “I just wanted to go as hard as I could. Whatever mistakes I made, I wanted to make sure I made a mistake going 100 miles an hour.”
As a unit, the defense made one big play — Fuller’s interception return — but was otherwise off its game as the Bengals had touchdown drives of 64 yards (six plays) and 75 yards (nine plays) in the first quarter. Poor tackling was one issue — not a big surprise early in the preseason considering how little tackling is done in camp. In particular, linebacker John Timu and safety Adrian Amos missed tackles that sprung Joe Mixon for a 24-yard touchdown reception.
“When our first-team defense is out there, we want to be unstoppable,” Hicks said. “We want to be punishing. We don’t want to let drives extend the way they did. So we need to improve the little things that allowed them to score.’’
They obviously left a lot of room for improvement. But a defense that ranked 10th in the NFL in yards, 11th in yards per play and ninth in points allowed in 2017 has earned the right not to be too concerned over one game.
“As you could probably tell, we’re a little rusty right now,” Floyd said. “But we’ve got three more games to get ready for the first [regularseason] game.”
“You have to keep things in perspective. But we have to be the hardest on ourselves,” Hicks said. “We don’t want anybody to score the whole game, let alone two in the first half. You just gotta say, let’s go back home and look at the film and say, ‘How are we going to keep these guys out of our end zone.’ ”