When you think of the Chicago Bears as a franchise, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is defense. The franchise is known for having really good defenses since being founded in 1919.

Players like Dick Butkus, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman and the entire 1985 defense have played for this storied franchise and have left their marks on the NFL for the better.

With the hiring of Matt Nagy and the coach bringing an offensive-mind to the franchise, all of the attention this offseason has been on the offense. But we can't forget about this Bears defense that finished Top 10 against the run and No. 11 against the pass last season.

For Bears safety, he wants the franchise to get back to playing that dominant style of defense but do so while creating their own identity.

“Really we just want to get back to that old Chicago Bears-style defense," said safety Eddie Jackson following Sunday's practice "Physical, aggressive, forcing turnovers, scoring touchdowns and things like that.”

Forcing takeaways is something that Jackson did 3 times as a rookie for the Bears in 2017. He emerged as a starting safety out of training camp after being selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Jackson made his presence felt early and often, having his breakout game in a Week 7 win over the Carolina Panthers. The safety had a 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown and 76-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 17-3 win.

Forcing takeaways is something Nagy has preached to his team early and often in training camp and so far the Bears defense has been able to do just that while going up against this offense.

"We just want to be better than last year. That’s the main thing," Jackson said. "We want to be No. 1 in turnovers, of course, fumbles."

While the Bears addressed the offensive side of the ball in free agency, they brought several key players on the defense including four starters in the secondary and re-signed defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to a new deal. The chemistry is already there for the unit as they hope to take the next step in 2018.

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

The familiarity in the secondary is also something that Jackson thinks will help not only himself going into his second year, but the entire defense as well.

“It helps a lot. You know the guy next to you," Jackson said. "Like I said, we’ve got good chemistry from playing with each other last year. And that really helps us. Prince can look at me and I can give him a call and he’ll know what it is. We can freestyle a little bit in the back. Kyle [Fuller] can tell me something like hey, ‘Have me over the top, I’m going to jump this. Things like that.”

With players like Jackson, Leonard Floyd, Danny Trevathan, Kyle Fuller and Akiem Hicks back, the Bears may have the pieces to help this defense return to being dominant in 2018. They just have to go out and prove it.