Joe Tryon-Shoyinka first made an impression on the Chicago Bears when he was playing against them during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 27-17 home win on Sept. 17, 2023 — two sacks, four tackles and three quarterback hits.
On the second sack, a second-and-13 in Bears territory in the third quarter, Tryon-Shoyinka lined up a wide technique, ripped under left tackle Braxton Jones and plowed into then-Bears quarterback Justin Fields for a 10-yard loss.
“I remember I had a tell on the snap count, because it was a silent count, and they had done it a couple times, and the center did like a head bob, head bob, and immediately you snap it,” Tryon-Shoyinka said. “So he did like a turn, head bob, head bob, (and) right when he came up, snapped it. I jumped that snap. It was over with. So just film study.”
Tryon-Shoyinka had another trick up his sleeve.
In the fourth quarter, with the Bears at their 6 and Fields in shotgun in the end zone, Tryon-Shoyinka cut inside and had a bead on Fields when he hurried his dump-off pass and threw a pick-six to Shaquil Barrett.
“I just get off, try to get a safety on the quarterback in the end zone,” Tryon-Shoyinka said.
Since those couple of glorious moments, the 2021 first-round pick slipped out of the Buccaneers’ future plans, found himself seldom used in Cleveland after signing a one-year contract with the Browns, then was traded to the Bears on Tuesday.
Tryon-Shoyinka arrives to reinforce a Bears defensive hit hard by injuries over the last two weeks.
Rookie Shemar Turner was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament during a Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Dominique Robinson suffered an ankle injury in the same game and remains week to week.
And last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, just as defensive end Austin Booker made his season debut after missing seven games with a knee injury, Dayo Odeyingbo was sidelined for the season with an torn Achilles.
Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo hops off the field on one foot after suffering an injury in the fourth quarter against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
“It’s one of those deals where it feels like we take some strides at particular positions, then we take some steps back. It’s wild,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “I felt like we had a solution there with Shemar at defensive end a couple weeks ago. Then we lost him. Then we finally get Booker back and we lose Dayo. So it’s a little bit of give and take.”
Down to three healthy defensive ends, and with Tuesday’s trade deadline looming, Bears general manager Ryan Poles and his staff “turned pretty much every stone” searching the league for available options. And Poles remembered that game in Tampa, Fla.
“Real athletic,” he said of Tryon-Shoyinka. “Someone that we really liked coming out (of the University of Washington) as well. But I think he can help us. Unfortunately, we lost Dayo so he will step in and get going.”
But it won’t be as simple as plug-and-play.
With fairly new additions to the group, and Robinson’s timeline to return in question, the Bears may have to shuffle the rotation until the right fit sorts itself out.
“Any time you lose a guy, there’s an adjustment that has to happen,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said.
Johnson worked closely with Poles up to the trade deadline, and they weren’t just trained on a short-term fix but how the roster might be better positioned for future seasons.
“I feel really good about the move we made,” Johnson said. “I think our guys will step up as we get going here in the second half of the season.
“I think (Montez) Sweat is starting to come on, I thought Book had a good start there to the second half with the first game. I think we are going to be in a pretty good spot up front.”
Added defensive tackle Andrew Billings: “Shouldn’t be no drop-off.”
Here’s a breakdown of some of the key defensive ends who will factor heavily into the 5-3 Bears’ fortunes as they eye a potential playoff push, starting with Sunday’s home game against the New York Giants.
Montez Sweat
Bears defensive end Montez Sweat gestures after a play in the fourth quarter against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The seventh-year defensive end was the Bears‘ blockbuster trade acquisition in 2023. But he slid from 12½ sacks that season to 5½ in 2024.
The Bears’ top cap hit at $25.08 million got off to a sluggish start, but he’s on a three-game sack streak and leads the team with four.
“It’s been really exciting to see Montez start to get going here,” Poles said. “He’s made a bigger impact recently than he did early. … It almost reminds me of when he first got here.”
Sweat played the final nine games of 2023 in Chicago and put up six sacks.
Sweat’s pressure rate ranged between 11%-14% earlier in the season, peaked at 17% Week 7 against the New Orleans Saints, then dipped below 10% the last two weeks.
But his pass-rush opportunities went up and the sacks started landing.
Allen said Sweat “was doing some good things before, and yet he wasn’t getting as many of the stats. … “When you start to feel that success and you feel some of those results, like, there’s kind of a hunger to get back out there and produce again.”
Allen explained that Sweat’s winning more one-on-one battles because he has become more accustomed to how coaches want him to play the run and the pass schematically.
“I still think there’s a lot of meat left on the bone in terms of what we can get out of that,” Allen said.
Billings said part of the reason Sweat is performing more like an elite pass rusher is because other members of the defense, his fellow linemates in particular, have been doing their jobs more effectively.
“It takes a team to set up our players,” Billings said. “The guys that are the guys, they need us to get them where they can make the play to affect the team the way they need to. … “The player he is, when he gets the opportunity, he takes the opportunity.”
Austin Booker
Bears defensive end Austin Booker celebrates after a play in the second quarter against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Booker had just 1½ sacks in 17 games as a rookie reserve edge rusher.
He had a sack in his first game back from a knee injury last week, forcing a fumble from Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco that Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter recovered in the fourth quarter.
“Good to see Book get out there and do what he’d been doing, showing all camp, showing all preseason,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “It was good to see him get a turn and (make) the most of it.”
Added Allen: “He had a really nice rush on the sack-fumble. For (his) first game out after being out for a long time, I think that gives us a foundation to build from.”
Booker also factored into Poles’ calculus leading up to the trade deadline.
“The timing worked out where we got the extra week to see Book get going again, and I think it reminded us back to the momentum he had going in the preseason,” Poles said. “You saw those flashes and we expect those to continue.”
Poles and Bears coaches didn’t hide their disappointment that Odeyingbo got hurt just as Booker came back. They had dreamed of playing Booker on the edge and kicking Odeyingbo inside on passing downs, where they thought he’d be more effective.
“We did it with (Odeyingbo during the) New Orleans (game) a little bit more but thought we’d get more momentum if we did that,” Poles said. “So it’s a little bit of a bummer that it happened.”
But the Bears will have to make do without Odeyingbo and accept the limitations that come with Booker. He has played just 304 snaps in his career. His bookend mate, Sweat, has played 329 this season alone.
And Booker is 6-foot-6 but weighs just 245 pounds.
“So he’s still a young player, and yeah, he’s not the biggest guy that we have out there,” Allen said. “So strength and power can be an issue at times. So we’re working on trying to improve in those areas.
“But I think the biggest thing, just like with all of these guys, let’s just come to work every day and let’s work on the things that we have to work on and let’s try to improve and I think our guys are attacking that.”
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
Bears running back Khalil Herbert (24) fends off Buccaneers outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on Oct. 27, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
He’s going to play some special teams, but as for the defensive line, it’s up in the air.
“He should be ready to go” Sunday, Poles said. “Again, what that role looks like, I’m not sure right now.”
Tryon-Shoyinka said just wanted to play in whatever capacity he’s needed, but when he talked to the Tribune on Thursday, he had another job to do.
“I’ve got to hit them 40 up-downs before I get indoctrinated,” he said, laughing.
Allen requires the grueling, muscle-churning conditioning drill from every member of his defense, veterans and newcomers alike.
Once you do the 40 up-downs, you in it, you in it to win,” Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said. “It ain’t no going back. That’s just your pact to the room, letting everybody know that you’re coming to do whatever we’re willing to do, and that’s to win every football game.”
Added Tryon-Shoyinka: “Someone told me I had to hit them (Friday), so go get ready.”
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He’s taking the same tact with his addition to the defensive line rotation: “You’ve just got to go in headfirst. You can’t be tiptoeing in. It’s football.”
The fifth-season veteran has 15 career sacks with a high of five in 2023. He had a career-high 21.4% pressure rate through seven games with the Browns this season, but it’s a small sample size of 31 snaps.
Speed, length (6-5, 259) and other attributes helped make Tryon-Shoyinka a first-round pick in 2021 (No. 32), and they attracted the Bears this season.
“He’s smart, he’s got good athleticism, good length, and I think he’s a guy that has played a lot of football,” Allen said.
Added Poles: “There (were) a lot of traits to help us both in the run game and the pass game. Loved the effort and the motor, the range that he has. … (A) few more traits than Dom (Robinson), but a similar style to Dom. Reliable, dependable.
“We’ll see (about) play time, role, all of that will come together when we get through this week of practice, but it will be exciting to see him get integrated with our team and get rolling.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/08/chicago-bears-defensive-line-injuries/
