‘Putting it out there’
As media members swarmed toward his locker Monday night, Prince Amukamara took a step forward and smiled. Amukamara knew what all the to-do was about. Sure, his fourth-quarter pick-six off Russell Wilson had sealed a much-needed 24-17 Bears victory over the Seahawks.
But this wasn’t just an ordinary takeaway. This was the first time in 38 games, the first time in two years and 51 weeks that reporters had come to Amukamara to talk about one of his interceptions.
Finally.
“For me, it wasn’t a surprise,” he said. “This has been something I’ve been working on like crazy.”
Still, for those who appreciated the deeper subtext, Amukamara’s grin said so much more. Just a few months ago, he had vowed to end his interception drought with a flood.
He had given himself a lofty goal to chase this season — 10 interceptions.
And here, in Week 2, Amukamara had punctuated his first interception in forever with his first NFL touchdown.
Validation? Not quite. But certainly a step in the right direction.
“I mean, shoot, I’m reaching for the stars, right?” — Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara
You’ve run the audio back now a half-dozen times to measure the tone of the proclamation, to properly contextualize the grand vow. It was June 5 at minicamp in Lake Forest.
Amukamara was sitting on a table against a wall in the Halas Hall media room and doing as he always does — speaking candidly, answering questions directly, avoiding the cliche machine.
The veteran cornerback had just spent awhile ruminating on the day’s biggest topic — the cancellation of the Eagles’ Super Bowl celebration at the White House. But the conversation had shifted back to football, to the continuity in the Bears secondary and later to Amukamara’s personal visions for 2018.
The exact question that sparked Amukamara to vocalize his think-big ambitions: What do you think for you, in Year 2, will be different or better in terms of your production, given your familiarity here now?
“I say it every year but just more plays on the ball,” Amukamara answered. “I’m really looking for a 10-pick season.”
Whoa. Wait …
A 10-pick season?
The follow-up was nothing but a surprised laugh. “I mean, shoot, I’m reaching for the stars, right?” Amukamara continued. “But I know what I’m capable of. I know how hard I’ve worked. And every year I keep putting it out there just because when it does happen, I can relate it back to the time I said it.”
In the moment, it was clear where Amukamara was coming from. This wasn’t a guarantee. Just a veteran pushing himself, trying to instill his think-big approach in a defense that had so much promise — and with the addition of Khalil Mack has even more. And with his declaration made in a candid one-on-one conversation, Amukamara didn’t fear that his words would be splashed onto Twitter and immediately twisted into some hypersensationalized plot line.
Still, he also has been around long enough to know it was only a matter of time before his words would reach the mainstream.
Walk the walk
When the 10-interception goal was published in mid-July as part of a pre-training camp Tribune preview of Bears cornerbacks — accompanied by a reminder that Amukamara’s career-interception total was seven in seven seasons — the machine took over. Pro Football Talk grabbed the nugget and aggregated it. Bleacher Nation did too. USA Today, Sports XChange and 247Sports latched on as well.
Somewhere along the line, Amukamara’s 10-interception goal reached Bears secondary coach Ed Donatell, and his eyes popped from his head.
“Prince wrote the check,” Donatell said. “Now he has to cash it.”
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio found Amukamara, raised both hands and held up all his fingers.
“I said, ‘10 interceptions?’ ” Fangio recalled. “And then he started getting all defensive about what he said. He claimed he never set it as a goal or proclaimed he was going to get 10. Just that he’d like to get 10. “Semantics, I guess.”
Still, Amukamara promised to go after it with all he had. And that’s all Donatell needed to jump on board.
“I love that. I do,” Donatell said. “The first thing you want is your player to think positive thoughts about where he’s going. And then it’s our job as coaches to guide him there.”
Quickly, Donatell realized this reach-for-the-stars number had given Amukamara an extra push, boxes to check in his preparation.
“My mind went right to how we’re going to do this,” Donatell said.
Amukamara went to work day after day on the JUGS machine. He dedicated himself to increasing his film study. Whenever there was a down moment during practice, Donatell pushed Amukamara to grab an assistant coach and catch balls.
“What I like is he’s putting in the work to change the behavior,” Donatell said. “Because if you just do the same things it probably won’t change. He has put in extra work after practice. He is more mindful of every ball that comes his way and how he can finish the catches.
“We’ll see. Time will tell where this goes. But I’m behind it. I want him to cash that check he wrote.”
The short list
In the last week of August, while relaxing on a couch in the Halas Hall locker room, Amukamara was asked if he could name all the quarterbacks he has intercepted in his career. He laughed.
“Yeah,” he said. “But I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” His first came off Vince Young in 2011, in the first quarter of his first game. Eagles at Giants. Amukamara stumbled and got beat deep by DeSean Jackson. But the rookie recovered, took advantage of a badly underthrown ball and made his first big play.
In the six seasons that followed, he picked off Alex Smith and Kirk Cousins twice apiece, plus Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Romo.
The list stops there.
Entering Monday’s game, Amukamara’s last pick had come in September 2015 with the Giants when he jumped in front of Pierre Garcon and robbed Cousins on a pass over the middle.
For perspective, Amukamara has signed three contracts since then. So how in the world was he going to get to five picks this season, much less 10?
Even without the interceptions, Amukamara remains a reliable cover corner and a respected member of the Bears’ emerging defense. He is strong in press coverage and insists that poor hands have never been at the root of his interception total. Playing press coverage so often, he adds, has limited his chances to jump routes.
Allen Robinson played with Amukamara in Jacksonville in 2016 and quickly came to appreciate the corner’s veteran savvy.
“You have to be very sound in your route running,” Robinson said. “Because he has seen a lot of routes. He knows what certain routes look like. He picks up on a lot of different movements.”
Before the season opener against the Packers, Aaron Rodgers praised Amukamara as a feisty competitor, a reliable tackler, a defensive back with a knack for contesting catches.
“You’re not seeing guys running wide open on Prince,” Rodgers said. “Prince is usually on the guy’s hip and in great position. He’s done that for his entire career.”
Wanted
When the 10-pick goal went public, almost no one at Halas Hall misread Amukamara’s statement as bravado. Those who have spent time around him understand the way his brain works.
Said linebacker Danny Trevathan: “I’ve been on him about that 10-pick statement he made. But he has taken the right approach to it. He said it one time and that was it. And then he’s just gone about working at it.”
Still, Fangio’s default setting is realism. So it’s a Pavlovian response for his eyes to roll when he hears “10 interceptions.”
“Everybody wants to think positive, think big,” Fangio said. “But listen, there are nine other numbers before you get to 10. When he gets to nine, we can think about 10.”
Fangio’s message to Amukamara was straightforward. Forget the chatter. Put in the preparation. Show the production. “Get one,” Fangio said, “and we’ll talk about two.”
Still, throughout training camp, Fangio noticed Amukamara coming up with more interceptions than he had at any point last year. He saw a cornerback playing with obvious comfort, with a deeper understanding of the game.
Sure, 10 interceptions probably isn’t realistic. But with this Bears defense continuing its impressive ascent, Amukamara’s mindset has been valuable.
Fangio now sees a 29-year-old defensive back charging into “the best stage of his career.”
“He’s more confident in himself than he’s ever been,” Fangio said. “He’s fully invested in being the best corner he can be for us. And he’s happy being here. They didn’t really love him in New York. Jacksonville had him for a year and didn’t want him back. Now he’s feeling wanted for the first time in his career.”
Study habits
Fast-forward to Monday night. In some ways, Amukamara’s first interception in nearly three years began in a Seahawks-Broncos game in Denver on Sept. 9. It was there that the Seahawks began putting their offensive attack on display. And in the second quarter, with an empty backfield, a five-receiver set and running back Rashaad Penny split out to the left, Wilson found an easy completion.
Shotgun snap, quick drop, bullet to Penny near the left sideline. Six-yard gain.
In the days that followed, as the Bears began studying their Week 2 opponent, that empty-backfield formation with the running back spread out wide caught their attention.
Kyle Fuller was the first to point it out to Amukamara. Later, Donatell and Fangio highlighted that on the tip sheet given to the defensive backs. And when the secondary was given a test a couple of days before Monday’s game at Soldier Field, Amukamara nailed it. “I’m glad I paid attention and studied,” he said. Still, Amukamara needed to turn classroom success into game-night dividends. And when he saw the Seahawks break their huddle with seven minutes to play Monday with an empty backfield, a five-receiver set and Penny out wide to the left, his eyes got big.
Playing about 8 yards off the line of scrimmage, Amukamara knew he could read Wilson and possibly bait him into the quick throw. “They think the corner’s playing soft,” Amukamara said.
A beat or two after the snap, the Bears cornerback jumped the route. Wilson fired. The ball arrived. And off Amukamara went, so excited that he said he lost all thought and later sought out Adrian Amos to compare notes on the safety’s 90-yard touchdown return against the Ravens last season.
“I asked Amos, ‘Did you black out when you caught yours?’ ” Amukamara said. “Everything becomes silent. All you see is the end zone.”
In August, Donatell was asked whether he would be ecstatic if Amukamara made it halfway to his 10-pick goal. He wasn’t having it.
“We’re going for the whole thing,” Donatell shot back. “We’re not going for a double, we’re going for a home run.”
That support, that extra push, has meant the world to Amukamara.
“When you have a guy rooting for you and fully in your corner,” he said, “everything is more exciting.”
Late Monday night, after the media horde at his locker had thinned, Amukamara was reminded that he was suddenly on pace for eight interceptions.
“That’s good,” he said nodding, his grin growing wider. “That’s good news.”
One down. Nine to go.