LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Thomas Brown use to occupy a different role during Bears practices. Before his promotion to offensive coordinator two weeks back, the then Bears offensive passing game coordinator doubled as the scout team slot cornerback.

Brown’s natural athleticism, competitive drive and willingness to do such a thankless job made him perfect for the position. Brown was an excellent running back at the University of Georgia who had injury cut his NFL career very short, but he can still run and cut and chase.

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The gig has its drawbacks. Most notably: having to cover Keenan Allen.

That didn’t stopped Brown from talking smack pre-snap, only to get dusted once practice resumes.

“I think I’m a pretty athletic dude,” Brown said on Tuesday. “I’m still kind of cocky in some ways. And obviously I can’t guard him, even though I’ve told him that to his face that I can.”

Seeing Allen work up close inspired Brown to innovatively use Allen from the slot.

“Watching the guy, the one-on-one matchups, how he moves, the nuance of route-running is obviously elite,” Brown said. “It’s been elite for a long time. But also it’s being able to understand how we could move guys around. You use formation variations, using motions to do a couple things, right? To marry things for us offensively, to give us access and also to give us coverage indicators.

“So using the illusion of complexity, formation variation, motions and shifts, to force communication from a defensive standpoint but also hiding where certain guys are. But he’s a big-time player. Been that way for a long time.”

Allen has been really good from the slot of late. He had eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown from the inside, with just one catch outside the slot. Per NFL NextGen Stats, he has been aligned in the slot just 47.8 percent of the time, the lowest total since 2019.

Brown is also using DJ Moore a bit different. He’s getting Moore the ball a lot faster, on handoffs or screens or short passes designed to let him get significant yards after the catch.

Moore averaged 9.8 air yards per target through the first 10 weeks this season, but it’s just 1.9 air yards per target under Brown, though the receiver has the highest two-game stretch of production all season.

That’s yet another example of Brown being creative getting his playmakers the ball. “Regardless of what people kind of play coverage-wise or try to try to play against him to take away possible throws — if you hand it to him, give him a bubble behind the line of scrimmage, you’ve got to tackle him in space,” Brown said. “That guy’s pretty dynamic when you get the ball in his hand, so whether it’s screens, quick game throws, vertical down the field throws — any way to get that guy in space, I’m all about.”