One thing we can say about the Chicago Bears under this new coaching staff is that they’re not afraid to take gambles on players with, shall we say, mercurial personalities. They proved it last season when they signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson to help out the secondary. The safety has a long-standing reputation for being a loose cannon. Buffalo recently cut him for spitting on another player. Now it appears head coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen might be preparing to roll the dice again.
Insider Jordan Schultz reported on Friday that the Bears are bringing in defensive tackle Jordan Elliott for a workout. Why is this such a big deal? Elliott was recently cut by the Tennessee Titans when he went to retrieve a gun from his car following a practice altercation with teammate J.C. Latham. He was intercepted by teammate John Franklin-Meyers and talked down from doing anything rash. Nobody was injured. However, the Titans knew it looked bad and couldn’t afford to let it slide. So he was released.
The Chicago Bears must have credible information on what happened.
After all, Titans head coach Robert Saleh insisted during a presser following the incident that Elliott is not a criminal. He just made a bad mistake in an emotional moment. The guy is a good player who’d never been a problem before that incident. Don’t forget the Bears have some other sources to go on. GM Ryan Poles is friends with Titans GM Mike Borgonzi. He almost certainly called to get some details about what happened. Elliott is also a former teammate of Jeffery Simmons, whom the Bears recently acquired from Tennessee.
There is no way the Chicago Bears would’ve done this if the information they received suggested the defensive tackle was mentally unbalanced or a locker room problem. This workout will give them a chance to meet with Elliott and get his side of the story. Will he own up to the mistake? Will he avoid the question and make excuses? Depending on his answers, the Bears may decide to take the risk. Don’t forget, the team is hurting at defensive tackle after last Monday night.
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Kentavius Street was lost to Injured Reserve with a knee injury, and a groin issue hobbles Grady Jarrett. They badly need another body to shore up the middle.
Elliott being the target is not a coincidence.
Chicago is about to face some really good rushing offenses in the near future. While getting him into the lineup for Sunday against Tampa Bay seems unlikely, they face Detroit, Jacksonville, and Buffalo towards the end of November and early December. Elliott will be a big help. He’s been a central part of some pretty good run defenses, including Cleveland in 2023 and San Francisco last year. You could do a lot worse as rotational guys go. Everything depends on what read the Bears get on him during that workout.
If they like what they see and hear, he will likely be signed sometime after the Bucs game on Sunday. That will give them two weeks through the bye to get him ready. If nothing else, it’s nice to see the Bears are willing to take risks on good players despite questionable backgrounds. He won’t be expensive to acquire. If he becomes a problem, cutting him loose will be a non-issue.
