For most of October, the Bears’ Austin Booker was a scout-team defensive end.
The NFL allows players coming off injured reserve to practice for up to three weeks before being put on the active roster. The Bears , comfortable at the time with their depth at defensive end, made Booker wait all 21 days. During that time, he worked off the rust of a preseason knee injury and occasionally spun left tackle Theo Benedet around for a sack.
Ask Booker which opposing defender he pretended to be, and he straightens up.
‘‘I feel like I was playing like Austin Booker,’’ he said.
The Bears will find out Sunday whether that’s good enough.
Down two starting cornerbacks, their middle linebacker and a starting edge rusher, the Bears need to stabilize their defense a week after allowing Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco to throw for 305 yards and three touchdowns in the second half alone. Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart provides a worthy, more mobile test in Booker’s first start. Dart has been sacked 19 times, which is tied for eighth-most in the NFL, but also averages 31 rushing yards a game.
‘‘I’ve got an opportunity to show the NFL I’m a four-down starter,’’ Booker said.
Booker said he has been told throughout his career — sometimes overtly, other times with ‘‘context clues’’ — that his ceiling was only as a situational pass rusher.
‘‘I know it’s there,’’ he said, ‘‘and I’m gonna nip it in the bud as soon as possible.’’
The fact that the Bears have to rely on Booker as a starting defensive end is a result of the turnover of the last two weeks.
Edge rusher Dominique Robinson sprained his ankle on the opening kickoff against the Ravens and hasn’t played since. Second-round pick Shemar Turner, whom the Bears had moved from tackle to end, tore an ACL later in that game. Last week against the Bengals, starter Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles’ tendon. Turner and Odeyingbo are out for the season.
When all the Bears did was add edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as a depth piece at the trade deadline Tuesday, it opened the door for Booker’s big opportunity Sunday — and for the rest of the season.
When the Bears drafted Booker in the fifth round in 2024, general manager Ryan Poles thought he was probably a year away from being a significant contributor. He was right. As a rookie, Booker played 283 defensive snaps but posted only 1½ sacks. He led the NFL with four sacks during the preseason before hurting his knee and missing the Bears’ first seven games.
In practice, Booker has impressed teammates with his unusual rush style. He’s stronger than he looks and wants to get tackles to play in space. He sets up his moves in unorthodox ways and doesn’t predetermine which move he’ll make to try to get past the tackle. That’s what happened in his season debut against the Bengals, when he rushed wide right and shoved tackle Orlando Brown to the ground with his left arm. He sacked Flacco, forcing a fumble that was recovered by teammate Gervon Dexter.
‘‘ ‘Book’ has always been a very talented pass rusher — ever since he got here, really,’’ defensive end Montez Sweat. ‘‘Been waiting for him to hit the field.’’
For the Bears’ defense to be less powerless than it was in the last two minutes against the Bengals, they need Sweat to continue the run he’s on. In the last four games, he has three sacks and two forced fumbles. In the first four games, he had one sack.
‘‘I think he’s been performing really well for us all-around — run game, passing game,’’ defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. ‘‘It’s good to see him get the stats to go along with that. A lot of times, there’s some hidden production. But that’s been nice to see.’’
Sweat has been on the field more, too, which Allen said was a combination of hard work and feeding off the team’s success. Since he played 58% of the Bears’ snaps in Week 3, he has played 73%, 74%, 71%, 80% and 77% of the their snaps.
‘‘He’s gotten a lot better,’’ Allen said. ‘‘I think he’s starting to see the results of that. I think he’s feeding off that a little bit.’’
It reminds Poles of Sweat’s first few games with the Bears after he traded for him two years ago. He had six sacks in his first five games with the team.
‘‘He’s made a bigger impact recently than he did early [and] certainly last year,’’ Poles said.
Sweat’s performance will be essential moving forward. The Bears are paying him to pace their pass rush, and his four-year, $98 million deal ranks eighth in the league among edge rushers.
The Bears are averaging 2.1 sacks, which is tied for 20th in the NFL. Their defense can’t sit back and let opposing quarterbacks take their time, the way Flacco did when the Bengals scored 15 points in the last two minutes last week.
Four of their 17 sacks this season have come from defensive backs or linebackers. Allen will have to decide whether he wants to blitz even more often now that the Bears are thin at defensive end.
‘‘We’ll see how it goes,’’ he said. ‘‘And then if we need to make some adjustments in-game, we’ll make some adjustments in-game.’’
If Booker can be dangerous, it will be a moot point and will make the Bears’ decision not to trade for a more proven edge rusher a lot more defensible.
‘‘He gets his opportunity now,’’ Sweat said. ‘‘Enjoy the show.’’