It’s possible the Bears could face the former pass rusher on Sunday when they host the New England Patriots.

The Baltimore Ravens waived offensive lineman Yannick Ngakoue, and the Patriots claimed him on Friday. Although he won’t have much time to adapt to New England’s defensive scheme, many teams’ experience with Ngakoue has been that he doesn’t play much within that scheme anyway.

Ngakoue has often been criticized for being overly concerned with sacks and not worrying about defending the run on other stops, and it’s not as if the Bears have come up with something completely different.

The Bears decided not to bring back Ngakoue, who completed his one-year contract in 2023, and he had four sacks in 13 games before suffering a season-ending ankle fracture.

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This was the first season Ngakoue didn’t have at least eight sacks, and this year he had 1 1/2 sacks with five tackles, including one for loss, with the Ravens before being waived.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles were asked about Ngakoue multiple times throughout the offseason and even leading up to the week of the final preseason game.

“I like him,” Eberflus said. “I love him as a man. I love him as a worker. He’s certainly done good things for us in the past, but again, it’s speculation and stuff like that. But I still love him as a man and as a character player.”

Instead, the Bears were interested in Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon, but Atlanta acquired the outfielder in a trade. The Bears traded to acquire Darrell Taylor from Seattle, and he is part of a bench rotation that includes Jake Martin, Austin Booker and starters Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker.

Ngakoue eventually signed with the Ravens to a $1.2 million-per-year veteran-minimum type of contract after the Bears paid him $10 million for one season.

Could he play against them on Sunday without actually practicing?

It wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened to a boundary runner. Whatever the defense system, they all essentially do the same thing.

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