Al-Quadin Muhammad provides the Chicago Bears a player familiar with the scheme and demands of the new coaching staff as the defense transitions to a 4-3 base front.
Muhammad, who signed a two-year, $10 million contract, will play defensive end, effectively replacing Khalil Mack, whom the Bears traded Wednesday to the Los Angeles Chargers for a second-round draft pick this year and a sixth-round selection in 2023.
Muhammad is the first player general manager Ryan Poles signed who has experience playing for new coach Matt Eberflus. Muhammad is coming off his best season with the Indianapolis Colts with 48 tackles, a career-high six sacks and 13 quarterback hits in 17 games.
He won’t be the disruptive edge force Mack was, but he fits the scheme and is a two-way player who is solid versus the run as the Bears look to fit him in with Robert Quinn and Trevis Gipson.
“The appreciation I have for Coach Eberflus is the love that he has for the game,” Muhammad said Sunday. “He’s the same guy every day. High-energy guy. He brings the juice. Nobody wants to win more than Eberflus, and I think a lot of people around here are going to see that. We’re all in this business to win, to win a Super Bowl. He’s going to give you his all.
“I mean, who wouldn’t want to play for a guy that brings the juice, that wants to win, that’s the same guy every day?”
Muhammad, who played for the Colts last season on a one-year, $2.92 million contract, said the scheme isn’t difficult to learn.
“I had to figure out the message that (Eberflus) was giving,” Muhammad said. “And I had to figure out how to do it on a consistent basis. I had to figure out how to do it every day. I had to change my perspective, change my mindset and I had to really just buy in.
“It wasn’t hard to buy in because the way the scheme is set up. If you’re not playing at a fast pace, you’re not running to the ball, punching at the ball, stripping at the ball, just 11 guys to the ball, you’re not going to play. I bought in to that immediately and I train that way during the offseason. Getting to the ball is always on my mind.
“That’s pretty much what he’s about, just having eight, nine, 10, all 11 guys to the ball. You’ve got a special defense if you’ve got 11 guys running to the ball.”
The Bears are overhauling the defense. They signed Nicholas Morrow to play linebacker alongside Roquan Smith and signed Justin Jones to play defensive tackle after their largest would-be signing to date fell through when Larry Ogunjobi failed a physical.
Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson was re-signed to a one-year, $1.77 million contract that is fully guaranteed. The Bears have more pieces to add in the secondary and along the defensive line.
