Chicago Bears edge rusher Robert Quinn admittedly had a horrible season in 2020. He wants to move on from that and be a big contributor to the defense in 2021.
Despite making the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, the Chicago Bears aren’t happy about their body of work. They won the division in 2018 but had a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the playoffs.
Last season, the Bears finished at 8-8. Since the league allowed an extra team in each conference to make the playoffs, the Bears got to make it in (by the skin of their teeth). However, they showed how much they didn’t deserve to get in by their underwhelming performance in the playoff game against the New Orleans Saints.
One of the disappointing aspects of the 2020 season was how the defense played. This is a defense that played at an elite level. Last season, though, this wasn’t an elite unit. Defensive lineman Eddie Goldman opted out of the season due to the COVID pandemic. That opened a big hole in the defense’s rush defense.
Another thing that affected the defense was at edge rusher. The Bears weren’t happy with what Leonard Floyd was doing on the opposite side of Khalil Mack. As a result, Mack faced a maze of bodies on his way to the backfield.
The Bears let Floyd walk instead of paying his big fifth-year option. They then turned around and signed Robert Quinn to a huge free-agent deal. Quinn is a former All-Pro so teaming him with Mack seemed like a no-brainer. Those two would wreak havoc on opponents.
Things didn’t exactly work out as planned, however.
Quinn had a terrible season. He only recorded two sacks, one of them on his first snap in a Chicago Bears uniform. His second one wasn’t until late in the season.
What ended up happening was that Quinn played worse than Floyd did. To make matters worse, Floyd had a breakout season with the Los Angeles Rams, recording a career-high 10.5 sacks. That was just one less than he had in the previous three seasons.
Quinn is ready to move on from 2020. He admittedly had a terrible season but wants to forget it and have a big 2021 season, per NBC Sports Chicago:
"I’ll be honest: Just a terrible year for me, personally. No, it was a bad year. Yeah. Unless you like those types of stats… I might’ve just beaten myself down mentally (last year). But at the end of the day, I can erase 2020 — well, put it behind me — because it’s done and over with. Now I’m gonna look forward to this year"
One of the things defensive coordinator Sean Desai wants to do is try to limit some of Quinn’s snaps to keep him healthy and fresh throughout the season. The team brought in Jeremiah Attaochu and Christian Jones. Both players have starting experience and played extended snaps so they’ll provide good backup. Jones is mainly an inside guy but he does have some experience outside so Desai can move him around at times.
It appears that the Bears are looking to give Quinn about half of the defensive snaps this season. They are hoping that with the rest the 31-year old can have some big numbers in 2021.
Now the Bears are stuck with an aging Quinn and his big deal, right? Not exactly. Quinn gets another shot to impress his teammates and fans. The coaching staff is doing whatever it takes to put him in a situation to succeed. If it doesn’t happen, however, the Bears won’t be stuck.
After the 2021 season, the Bears have the option of cutting Quinn and saving up to $12 million. Quinn wants to have a big season not only because he wants to help the defense but also to help his career. He wants to keep his big contract. Furthermore, if he has another stinker, at his age there won’t be a list of suitors clamoring for him coming out of two struggling seasons. A motivated Quinn is good for all parties involved.