Going into the 2018 season, we knew the Chicago Bears defense would be a strength of this team after they put together an impressive 2017 season finishing Top 10 in the run and No. 11 against the pass.

While the defense played well as an entire unit last year, it's the secondary that has fans buzzing this year.

The Bears returned part of the core in the secondary for the 2018 season by re-signing defensive backs Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara to new deals in the offseason. The two are projected to start on the outside for the Bears along with young safeties Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson. The four make up arguably the strongest part of this Bears' defense and will be relied on throughout the year.

So far in training camp, the Bears defense has been a step ahead of the offense, more specifically the secondary.

“The takeaways are big," Nagy said. "I was just in a defensive meeting the other day and Vic and coach Donatell were going through the takeaways and how we go about getting them, how important it is, how it changes the game, the technique of how you get the ball out. So that’s an emphasis. It’s a game-changer when you get the ball from the offense, and vice versa, we’ve got to preach ball security and how important it is to not have turnovers."

Forcing takeaways is something that Nagy and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio have preached to this defense as they have struggled to do so over the past three or so seasons. While Nagy may not harp on it for Trubisky, calling it "no big deal", don't tell that to the defense.

They have put an emphasis on it early in camp, and so far it's starting to pay off for them.

"Where they’re at right now is you’re seeing some interceptions. Right? They’re getting some picks," Nagy said. "They’re being preached that every day in the meeting rooms with our coaches. They understand that that’s one of the things, where we started building this culture and we started talking to them about what we want as an identity, it’s physicality and takeaways. Those were two of the biggest ones we talked about on defense. So we’re going to do everything possible to make that happen. But as everyone who’s standing here knows, when you get a turnover, it changes the momentum of a game."

The secondary has picked off Mitchell Trubisky more times this training camp than the offense would like but it provides a learning experience for the quarterback as he gets to go against this defense every day in practice.

"He’s adjusting to any negative-type plays," Nagy said. "So if there’s an interception, there’s a screw-up in the play call, in the huddle he calls the wrong play, he regroups."

One of those players that has multiple interceptions on Trubisky this camp is Amukamara. After not recording one in a regular season game since 2015, Amukamara has been able to get his hands on a few in camp.

The defensive back is playing at a high level in training camp, opposite of Fuller as the two really haven't had a bad day through the first eight practices in Bourbonnais thus far. With Fuller and Amukamara returning, the two are in a leadership type of role for the secondary that also features safeties Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson.

All four have used the offseason together to get to know each other more on and off the field.

“We have an entire offseason just to get to know each other," Amos said. "We were just getting to know each other at this time last year. Now we have an entire offseason for a better feel for each other, speaking the same language, knowing how each other moves. So I think that helps.”

Both Jackson and Amos give some reinforcement at last level of defense and the team is hoping that they both take the next step in the 2018 season.

As a rookie, Jackson forced three takeaways on defense and so far looks like a steal for Ryan Pace in the 2017 NFL Draft. His counterpart back there, Amos, is entering the fourth season of his career and is hoping on landing a new deal. He took over the starting job in Week 4 against Green Bay and put together his best season in the league thus far.

Amos was rated as the second-best safety in the NFL by Pro Football Focus for the 2017 season and for him, he knows he still has to get better.

“It means you’ve just got to keep working," Amos said. "It’s good to be put in the category with other great players, but it’s all just about that next game, the next practice. I know there’s a lot of things I want to improve in myself so I’m out here just trying to improve every day.”

That improvement can come in the form of getting more and more familiar with Jackson's tendencies, allowing the defense to freestyle a bit. For Jackson, he can already feel the chemistry between the guys on defense and knows the ultimate goal is to be the best defense in the league this year.

“It’s a lot better," Jackson said. "The chemistry we have with each other from the previous year, everyone is ready to come in and get after it. That’s just the mindset on defense that we’re going to be the No. 1 defense in the NFL this year.”