LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- By the end of his first week at Halas Hall, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka learned that his introduction to the Chicago Bears' defense wouldn't be complete until he did his first set of up-downs, the accountability exercise that is a rite of passage for every player in Dennis Allen's defense.
"I heard about those," Tryon-Shoyinka said while laughing. "I heard about those, bro."
Between learning a scheme and what kind of role he'll play in the defensive line's rotation when the Bears host the New York Giants, Tryon-Shoyinka will have to act quickly if he wants to check the burpee-style exercise off his list by Sunday. Chicago's pass rush needs help, and the Bears are hoping they'll gain some traction up front after they sent a sixth-round pick to Cleveland at the trade deadline this week in exchange for the 26-year-old defensive end and a 2026 seventh-round selection.
Starting edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo's season-ending Achilles injury left a void along the defensive line that the Bears felt they needed to address Tuesday to get through their next nine games. With Odeyingbo out, Chicago had only two healthy defensive ends on the 53-man roster opposite Montez Sweat: Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy.
General manager Ryan Poles said the Bears checked in on "all of the guys you would imagine" when asked whether Chicago looked to make a big swing for a premier pass rusher, such as Las Vegas' Maxx Crosby or Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson. Ultimately, the Bears found depth with Tryon-Shoyinka, the former first-round pick who struggled to establish a role in half a season with the Browns.
"There's a lot of deals we could have made," Poles said. "[In] those conversations, we were talking about the impact on our team, short term, long term. This was the one we decided to go with."
Chicago is banking on a stopgap solution to provide a boost up front. The Bears' pass defense ranks 25th (237.6 yards per game) and 18th in sack percentage (6.59%) while Chicago's pass rush win rate climbed to 27th (31%) through the first eight games. Though Tryon-Shoyinka logged only 31 snaps with the Browns, the Bears hope a fresh start on a D-line where he'll have a chance to get significant playing time will help him return the player who notched 15 sacks over his first four seasons in Tampa Bay.
"He didn't get a lot of time in Cleveland, but the tape that you saw, there was a lot of traits to help us both in the run game and the pass game," Poles said. "Loved the effort and the motor, the range that he has, you know, very similar style, few more traits than [former fifth-round pick] Dom[inique Robinson], but like a similar style to Dom. Reliable, dependable."
At the time of Odeyingbo's injury in Week 9, the Bears' pass rush was starting to turn a corner. Sweat, the highest-paid defensive player on the roster ($24.5M/year), has recorded a sack in each of his past three games, bringing his season total to 4, along with 7 QB hits, 4 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles. Though the Bears doled out a three-year, $48 million contract to Odeyingbo as an edge rusher, Chicago felt his best moments on the field came while he rushed from the interior of the defensive line.
The plan was to play Odeyingbo inside more with Booker active after he spent the first seven games on injured reserve. Booker, the former fifth-rounder, logged a sack against the Bengals in his 2025 debut, when he played 37 snaps. The opportunity for an increased workload opposite Sweat is part of Booker's plan to show his value to this defense.
"I definitely could get a bigger role, and I'm hoping that's what that is and hoping to start this coming weekend," Booker said. "Just to prove to the NFL that I'm an all-down defensive end, not just a pass rusher. I think that's a great opportunity."
Poles said Sweat's impact over the past three games reminds him of how the former Washington defensive end performed immediately after being traded to Chicago at the deadline in 2023, when he finished the season with 12.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl bid. He pointed to Sweat's increased stamina and "ability to play faster, harder, longer" as the catalyst behind his improvement and a surge in confidence.
It's no coincidence that Sweat's increased production mirrors his increased snap counts. The defensive end logged a season-high 80.6% of defensive snaps against Baltimore in Week 8 and played 76.5% of snaps last week. That's a significant jump from where he was earlier in the season (66.1% of snaps against Detroit, 58.1% against Dallas). The 71.7% of defensive snaps he has played through eight games is a career high.
"I think when you start to feel that success and you feel some of those results, there's a hunger to get back out there and produce again," said Allen, the Bears' defensive coordinator. "I think it's a combination of just him coming out here and working every single day. He's gotten a lot better. I think he's starting to see the results of that. I think he's feeding off that a little bit."