LAKE FOREST – The Bears have the unenviable task of being the first NFL team to prepare for the San Francisco 49ers with Kyle Shanahan's hand-picked signal-caller Trey Lance at the helm.
The second-year quarterback made two spot starts last season in place of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, but Lance ran a pared-down version of the offense during those up-and-down performances. Shanahan handed the keys to the offense over to Lance this offseason, and the North Dakota State product will make his first start as the 49ers' unquestioned No. 1 QB on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Lance is exceptionally talented but also relatively inexperienced. He has made just 19 career starts between college and the NFL. The Bears aim to make start No. 20 as uncomfortable as possible.
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"The way we play. The looks we give him. The disguises," safety Eddie Jackson told NBC Sports Chicago about trying to fluster Lance. "When we got our chances, take advantage of those plays. Hitting him. Get some sacks on him. Showing him this is not the cakewalk that you think it's going to be.
"Knowing it's a young guy, we want to confuse him with our disguise and try to make him play quarterback. He's good at running but when we want to get him to drop back in the pocket and make these types of throws and these types of passes and capitalize off that."
Preparing for a quarterback with limited film, especially one with the talent and upside of Lance, is a challenge for a young defense that spent the entire offseason installing a new scheme. So, the Bears will spend more time preparing and studying the man pulling the strings behind Lance than the quarterback himself.
"It's really just trying to find certain tendencies," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. "There's not too, too much you can do. Just try and find old tape from Kyle Shanahan because he's the one that's going to be calling the plays so just trying to find some tendencies from his standpoint. Really just going out there and make adjustments on the field."
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The Bears understand that studying tape of a Jimmy Garoppolo-led offense can help give them an insight into what the 49ers want to do and how those bread-and-butter plays could have different outcomes given Lance's arm talent compared to Garoppolo's.
"It's really just preparing for the offense, but it's different because he ain't got too much film," Jackson said. "Last year, he was a young quarterback, and there was a lot of RPO kind of stuff. We kind of feel like it's going to be the same approach but not as much. I feel like he ran more last year.
"Now, being a full-time starter, I don't feel like he's going to run as much. Just the things he does well. He's good when he's throwing the ball to a target, like a certain spot. He'll put the ball there. He's strong in the pocket. We can see that. He's a big guy. Has a nice arm. So, we want to get him rattled up with our disguises and things like that."
Eberflus said the Bears might use multiple athletes in practice to mimic Lance's running ability. Practice squad quarterback Nathan Peterman is an option, as are other non-quarterback athletes.
"You're projecting a little bit," Eberflus said of preparing for Lance. "You have to project how they're going to use the young man and where they're going to use him in their offense. We certainly have an idea of what the offense looks like. But how they're going to use him, no one really knows. You're going to use your rules and have your calls and make sure you're sound, what you're doing."
Few know what to expect from Lance.
Bears star linebacker Roquan Smith referred to him as an "unknown." Edge rusher Robert Quinn noted Lance has "all the pieces" to be a good-to-great quarterback.
The Bears understand Lance can create big plays with his arm and legs. Discipline will be paramount Sunday.
But for all Lance's talent and the hype around him, he's still just a young quarterback getting his feet wet at the NFL level. An experience the Bears plan to make as uncomfortable as possible.
"He's a young guy. Quarterback is one of the hardest positions to play in this league," Jackson said. "Going into Year 2 as a full-time starter is kind of different from you getting in a game here and there."
His fellow leader in the secondary echoed the sentiment.
Show us you're for real.
"He's a young guy. Definitely has a strong arm. He can hurt us in the run game, but he still got to prove himself to me," Johnson said.