CHICAGO -- Significant progress has been made on defense, but the Chicago Bears' secondary is in dire need of a makeover.

The biggest indictment of the defensive backfield is lack of turnovers. Spurred on by a vastly improved front seven, the Bears have 37 sacks but just seven interceptions to show for that quarterback pressure.

Veteran Chicago cornerback Tracy Porter, 30, had a rough afternoon against the Redskins. That is putting it nicely.

"S---ty performance by me, man," Porter said. "I embarrassed my teammates, embarrassed the coaches and myself. It started with me."

Overall, though, Porter has done enough to return in 2017. Not only is Porter the lone playmaker in the group, he has consistently fought through pain and discomfort to answer the bell each week, when so many others have fallen by the wayside.

Aiding matters is Porter's team-friendly contract. Porter is signed through 2018 but has no guaranteed money left on the deal, and he is scheduled to count a modest $4.050 million against the cap in each of the next two years.

Besides Porter, rookie fourth-round picks safety Deon Bush (suffered an ankle injury on Saturday) and cornerback Deiondre' Hall (had penalties galore on Saturday) figure in the mix next season, but neither is an unquestioned starter.

After that, the secondary is wide open.

The coaching staff's decision to shuffle Adrian Amos and Harold Jones-Quartey in and out of the starting lineup this season is a firm indicator the Bears are not content at safety.

At cornerback, Cre'Von LeBlanc, Bryce Callahan, Demontre Hurst and Johnthan Banks all have talent, but they project to be experienced reserves when the Bears are once again playoff contenders -- whenever that happens. Sherrick McManis and Chris Prosinski are valued special-teams contributors.

And forget about Kyle Fuller. The 14th overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft, Fuller reverted back to injured reserve on Wednesday, after the club deemed that Fuller did not display the appropriate level of confidence or eagerness to return from a routine knee scope that somehow landed him on injured reserve.

Fuller told reporters he is in the Bears' plans for 2017.

He must be looking at the wrong plans.

With so much work to be done, the Bears are likely to seek help via the draft, where ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay list Ohio State's Marshon Lattimore, Florida's Teez Tabor, Alabama's Marlon Humphrey and Michigan's Jourdan Lewis as the top available cornerbacks.

LSU's Jamal Adams and Michigan's Jabrill Peppers are currently the highest-rated safeties in the 2017 draft class.

Kirk Cousins (104.1 quarterback rating) had little trouble with Chicago's secondary in Washington's 41-21 victory on Saturday.

The Bears must strengthen their secondary if the defense aspires to be more than just OK. Great defenses routinely take the ball away. The Bears have miles to go in that department.