Chicago Bears coach has Dak Prescott message before Cowboys game

During his news conference on Thursday, Allen said the defense needs to generate a strong pass rush against Prescott.

“The most important way and the quickest way to affect the offense is to be able to affect the quarterback and being able to do that through rush and coverage,” said Allen via the Bears’ website. “There’s a lot of different ways that you can do that. Maybe there’s some ways that we can create a little bit more time for the rush to get there.”

Serious injuries on defense aren’t helping

The Bears have to find ways to pressure Prescott because the secondary is dealing with significant injuries. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson is out indefinitely after he reaggravated his groin injury in Week 2. Cornerbacks Jaylon Jones and Kyler Gordon have not practiced this week due to hamstring injuries.

“We all embrace the challenge,” Allen said of being shorthanded on defense. “There’s no question about it. When you have significant players that are missing time, it’s challenging. And yet, that’s why we do what we do and that’s why we’re at the highest level of this profession is to figure out solutions and figure out ways to get the job done.”

The Bears have given up 73 points in the last five quarters. Chicago needs to shut down the Cowboys on Sunday or they run the risk of letting bad defense become a habit in Allen’s first season as defensive coordinator.

Allen acknowledged the sloppy defense against the Lions, saying the team is working to make corrections before playing Dallas.

“If you’re in this league long enough, you’ve been in one of those type of games,” Allen said. “And so you make the corrections that you need to make and you come back in and you go to work and that’s what you do. I mean, you get back up on the horse, let’s go ride again, and so that’s what our guys are doing…. We just come in every night, we go to work, try to put a good plan together, try to utilize our guys the best we can and put them in good positions to make plays. Hopefully we’ll go out and do that this weekend.”

If they don’t come out and play better, the Bears might be staring at a disappointing 0-3 start.