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The Chicago Bears were without one of their stalwarts on defense last season in nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.
When new defensive coordinator Sean Desai met with the media last month, he didn’t have confirmation about whether Goldman would play in 2021, but he sounded optimistic about his return.
Bears general Manager Ryan Pace echoed that optimism when asked about Goldman’s status heading into next season, and he sounded like a man that believed his defense would be getting back a key player in 2021.
“Obviously we really missed him this year,” Pace said. “Excited to get him back in the mix. He’s a big piece of what we’re doing, so we’re excited about that.”
The Bears defense struggled without Goldman, which was evident from the start of the season, especially in run defense. After ranking ninth against the run in 2019, Chicago ranked 15th in 2020 without Goldman in the middle.
If Chicago gets Goldman back, the defensive line is set to return several key players, including Goldman, Akiem Hicks and Bilal Nichols with some key rotational pieces hitting the free agent market in Roy Robertson-Harris, Brent Urban and Mario Edwards.
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