1. Jack Sanborn naturally lost a bigger role with the Chicago Bears
It is not a surprise in any way that Jack Sanborn saw his role shrink. He went from starting in place of Tremaine Edmuns to going back to his old role. Still, after playing in 46% of the snaps in week 11, it was a bit surprising to see him drop all the way to 23.6% of the snaps in week 12, just 13 overall.
That was his lowest total snap count of the season and his lowest snap share as well. The Bears' defense has not dropped off, and it likely was the pieces around Sanborn that made the unit better in the two games he started compared to Edmunds. Still, Sanborn has been playing good ball, so it is tough to see him lose the snaps like that. Some of that comes from Minnesota spending a lot of time from behind and throwing more, so the Bears ran more nickel.
Still, they have to find ways to mix and match and get him out there for more run-downs. He is a heady blitzer as well. Monday night was a big drop-off, though.