The Chicago Bears added some new faces to the roster claiming seven players off waivers last week.
Among them were four defensive players, including defensive tackle Armon Watts, defensive end Kingsley Jonathan, cornerback Josh Blackwell and linebacker Sterling Weatherford.
Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams praised Blackwell, an undrafted free agent out of Duke, for his football IQ and his versatility on defense and special teams.
“He has some familiarity with the defense coming from where he came from,” Williams said. “Special-teams wise, we think he can help us, which it’s, you talked about complementary football, that’s one of three phases that’s important for us to win football games. So we’ll see how he fits in to the mix. We’re not going to pin him into any one position. Today was the first day and we’ll see how that goes down the line.”
Weatherford signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent out of Miami (OH) had an impressive training camp, where he made plays all over the field. He was one of eight players who multiple claims put on him during the waiver process, which also included Wesco and Jonathan.
“We looked at the tape. He hits and he took the ball away in the preseason also,” Williams said of Weatherford. “So if you go, ‘Hey, what profile of guys do you bring in?’ He fits that profile. And so, we talked to his teammates—Dom was happy that he’s here and he said, ‘Coach, he’s one of our guys’, meaning that his DNA is HITS principle DNA. So we’re glad we have him.”
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