The first takeaway by the Chicago Bears defense versus the New York Giants was vintage Robert Quinn.

On the third play of New York’s opening drive and Quinn’s first snap in a Bears uniform, the two-time Pro Bowler used the patented chop-club technique to gain an advantage on Giants rookie offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. Next, Quinn used extraordinary bend to beat Thomas around the edge and knock the ball out of New York quarterback Daniel Jones’ hand for a strip-sack that Khalil Mack recovered.

All straight out of the Robert Quinn playbook.

“You can teach [those moves] but some guys are more athletic and more flexible than others,” Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said. “Robert, obviously, is one of those guys we call him 'Gumby' in the meeting room. Those big tackles have a hard time when you can throw that chop in there and then you can bend and turn that corner, they have a hard time, especially most of those tackles are 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, and they can’t get down there. They can’t put a hand on him.

“So, I’ve seen it for a long, long time now with Robert. He’s wrecked some games when I was a head coach in Indy. Same way, first play he strip sacked against the Giants. He definitely had that chop-club move down.”

Quinn, who came to the Bears in free agency in April, has terrorized NFL quarterbacks for 10 seasons.

Just four players (Von Miller, Chandler Jones, J.J. Watt and Terrell Suggs) had more sacks than Quinn (80.5) before the age of 30.

“He’s a difference maker…he’s huge to have,” Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan said.

Pro Bowl defensive tackle Akiem Hicks referred the Quinn, who once recorded 19.0 sacks in a single season for the Rams, as ‘blazing good.’

This Sunday, Quinn’s free-agent coin flip comes full circle when the Bears play at Atlanta.

Six months ago, the Falcons -- similar to the Bears -- felt the need to beef up their pass rush and targeted free-agent Quinn, who led the league in pass-rush win rate (32.2%), tied for ninth in sacks (11.5) and tied for fourth in tackles for loss of 5 or more yards (14) as a member of the Dallas Cowboys in 2019.

Quinn also set a career-high with 37 quarterback hits.

Chicago and Atlanta both extended strong offers as unrestricted free agency began. Quinn felt so torn that he let fate decide the outcome.

“It was a tough decision, and I had to finally make it, and Chicago was on the right side of the coin,” Quinn said in April.

“Basically, that’s what it boiled down to -- it was a coin flip. How about this: the Bears were on the right side of it…it was here and Atlanta, and it was very tough.”

The Bears later clarified that Quinn -- the 14th overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft -- did not flip an actual coin, but regardless, the choice had been made. Quinn and Chicago agreed to a five-year deal that included $30 million in guarantees. Quinn will pocket $18.5 million in 2020.

Unfortunately, Quinn’s time in Chicago got off to a bumpy start. The pass-rusher was mostly a spectator, or limited to individual drills, during the abbreviated portion of training camp open to the media. The Bears explained they were being extra cautious with Quinn who spent part of the summer dealing with a personal issue after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the NFL’s traditional offseason program.

Quinn later injured an ankle prior to Week 1 and missed the opener at Detroit.

Quinn made his Bears debut in last week’s 17-13 victory over the Giants. Although Quinn played 25 of 65 defensive snaps, the edge rusher set the tone with the early turnover.

“The 20-something snaps that Robert Quinn was in there [against the Giants], I think is just right as he comes back,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “You’ve got to know when he’s out there on that field that he can be coming around that edge pretty fast and now you’ve got Khalil Mack on that other side. That’s why Quinn is here.”

Falcons coach Dan Quinn certainly knows what to expect in Week 3. “Quinn can bend and has a great chop-club [technique],” Quinn said via Zoom. “The really unique thing about him is his ability to bend right around the turn of an offensive tackle.”

Nagy cites Quinn’s professionalism as another strength. A native of Ladson, South Carolina, Quinn comes across as laid back and matter-of-fact in interpersonal settings, but Nagy observed a different Quinn last Sunday.

“The very first time that I talked to him, you could just sense that just by the way that he talks he’s country,” Nagy said. “Whenever I see him in the hallways here at Halas or at lunch or something and ask him how his day’s going, he always starts it off with, ‘Pretty good because I woke up today.’ So, he’s real simple.

“But he’s not simple when he gets out there on that football field. He doesn’t say a whole lot. You’ll see him on the sideline in Week 2, you’ll see the sideline copy, you’ll see he’s jumping up and down when he’s on the sideline. When he’s not out there, he’s really into the team aspect. He cares about his teammates, and again he just wants to win.”