Chicago Bears: Vic Fangio Gushing Over Progress of Defense

Understand this. When Vic Fangio dances, it’s an event because it doesn’t happen much. The Chicago Bears know this well.

So for him to be dancing around on the practice field must’ve taken something pretty spectacular. Indeed it was. During a goal line drill towards the end of practice on Day 7, the veteran defensive coordinator watched his first, second and third team units turn away the offense from the end zone from inside the 5-yard line a total of 12-straight times. The intensity grew to such a fever pitch that when a holding call on the offense called back the first touchdown they’d managed, Fangio picked up the flag and waved at them.

It wasn’t until back-to-back defensive penalties provided the extra opportunities that the offense finally got in before the drill was concluded. It was easily the most active showing Fangio has made over the progress of his unit but he also wasn’t shy about putting it into actual words when asked by reporters.

"“I think we’ve done fine. We haven’t done anything yet that we didn’t do in the spring from a schematic standpoint. They’ve had good recall and our execution for the most part has been pretty damn good.”"

He didn’t stop there either. Fangio went on to single out a few players he felt were making good progress in the system and felt they could do big things at the rate they were progressing.

"“[Hicks] has done well. He’s a big, strong explosive guy. He’s aggressive. He likes playing the game. He’s enthusiastic. For a big guy he’s got a lot of energy. We’ve just got to get him honed up a little bit better in his techniques.”"

On Jonathan Bullard:

"“He’s not quite the size that those guys are, he’s a guy that’s got a little bit more quickness. He’s a guy that we hope can be in our mix and rotation and be a guy that comes and plays a fair amount in every game just filling in.”"

There is still a long way to go before anybody can say the Chicago Bears are in good shape on defense. Even so it’s clear enough that Fangio is far more excited about where things are at than he was a year ago at this same time. He finally has tools that are not only talented but fit the type of scheme he wants to run. There’s a chance he may be able to get more creative than he was during his first season. For a man as competitive as him, that’s plenty of reason to do a little dance.