Eberflus discusses Week 10 loss | Coaches Show Podcast

You know, we showed him, you know, hey, how we were ten to ten at halftime, and I showed him how we dominated the third quarter fourteen to zero. Really nice job by the defense going three and out to start that second half, and then the offense, you know, scored touchdown, defense went five and out of the next one, offense scored another touchdown and the defense did a nice nice job of stopping him again. So it was a really good third quarter. Um. You know, obviously cole comment

had two touchdowns in that quarter there. But then we talked about the fourth quarter. You know, how we started off the fourth quarter, had a couple of things that we needed to correct, you know, uh, you know, kick out of bounds penalties, things that would cause them to to get a drive and keep drives alive. So and we obviously made that real nice play. Sandborn made that beautiful play that interception which was negated by a penalty also so um, you know, and then they got back

in it and tied it. They tied it up there, um with the uh the interception return you know, to made it twenty four twenty four. So then at that point, really you know, then it's a tie ball game, you know. So then a lot of adversities happened to that point. Now we got to we set our minds and do a great job. And then in a third and one, you know, Justin responds, you know, by throwing the interception.

He responds the very next series, okay, just as you know he would, um with that six sixty seven yard testdown scamper so um pretty special guy. Um. And again we uh, we weren't clean on the operation on the extra point and end up missing the extra point. You know.

So now we go up by six, and we were up by six there, but I think about seven minutes to go in the game, and we couldn't close the deal on offense, and couldn't close the deal on defense, and we just we got to do a better job in those moments um operating, you know, in that in that you know, when we're up there and be able to finish, to gain the right way, you open up

some windows of discussion here. Let's let's start with Justin Because Jim Schwantz, who's on our pre and postgame crew, the former San Francisco forty nine or Chicago Bear, Dallas Cowboys special team stud he walks into booth these last five weeks and he's an a racer. Justin's an a racer, And is that fair say he races some of the

shortcomings that pop up during a game. And he's also a responder because I think when he does something he doesn't approve of, like the pick six, which he says he'll never throw again, you know, he feels compelled to just give it that little extra to be an a racer. So is that what he's becoming? I guess yeah, he's obviously very special. First of all, he's a special person. You know, he's a great teammate, he's a great leader

of this football team, and he doesn't do actions. You know. First, you know, he's the first guy in, the last guy to leave, and he is working in the same guy every day and he does it. He's there after practicing, as you know, you know, for forty five minutes, throwing routes with these with these receivers every single day. So he's special that way, you know. And we always tell talk about leadership, we say, hey, model of the behavior you wish to see, and that's what he does. He

models that. By doing that, he inspires others. He inspires this whole football team by the way he works. Now, going to the football field itself on game day, there is no question that he is something that is hard to handle for the opponent because the ability to run on the design runs, but also the unscripted ones as well. The third and one was a design run. Everybody knew that he had a potential to keep it and he did what he did. And obviously there's the ones where

he drops backs. You know, it does a does a good job of getting those first downs on third down or whatever the situation may be. But yeah, he's special. Fourth quarters, so the production is not good over the course of I think nineteen fourth quarter possessions one touchdown I believe to see. But to me, that's a function again of a young team. It's a function of learning how to win. All those things we talk about, you know, the three to four plays, the six to seven plays

that need to happen over the course of game. But it comes to a head in a fourth quarter of a tight game, and you're gonna be in a ton of tight games. My belief is you're gonna be in a tight game the rest of the year, no matter the opponent, because that's how you guys play. Yeah, and that's the way the NFL is, right, you know, it comes down to the last you know, always within in the fourth quarter, you always within a one touchdown game.

So we have to learn from these moments and we have to get better and improve so we can execute down the stretch. And that also defense, not just offense. You know, the defense has to come up and make a play, make a big sack, make a takeaway. No takeaways the last two weeks. I'm sure that something in the year, like I said in a team meeting, that we had one taken away from us. You know, the

Sandborn interception was a great momentum shifter there. You know, it was twenty four I believe to ten at that point, and we take that ball away there, take it back to the twenty five, get a nice drive going there. We either punt and pin or up by you know, three scores or two and a half scores, whatever that might be. And that was a big momentum change your for us. But and then Gibson Gibson on the fumble

they had on that reverse. You know, we got to do a better job of you know, doing a great job and that when it's that country fumble or city fumble or and they're on there in tight quarters that we've shield our back towards the opponent and make sure we don't expose the ball so we can recover it. So we touched on the referee situation last week, touch on a post game. It is what it is. But how do you prevent your team from getting defeated by it during a game? No, you just got to reset.

You got to reset and make sure that your mind is on the next play. You know, you're going to have adversities, and like I said yesterday and the press are after the game, your adversity comes in many forms, and you're gonna have to be able to deal with that. You know, championship teams, winning teams, they just bust through adversity. They see it, they look at it and say, okay, move on to the next play, and they just keep making plays. And if you do that, keep executing in

those critical moments, good things are going to happen. Do you think as a whole they have done that or do you notice slump shoulders and reactiveness? No, I don't. I don't notice that one good. I think we are right there in the moment, and I think that our guys are growing. You know, we got a young football team. The guys are learning in these moments and we're only

going to get better, all right. I love what you had to say after the game because you brought up the fact, Okay, you got three straight losses six to seven, and that can harm teams, no question. You lose three straight in this league, it's like crisis, right any team. But you said, you know, be there for the man next to you. Go deeper in that. You can now our final minute in the segment about be there for the man next Yeah, it's it's really simple. It's about

your attitude, and it's about your behaviors, you know. So if you have a good attitude, that comes from your inside out, So that comes from your mind and your heart, right, your attitude does, and then your behaviors is the actions you show what's inside of you. So what does that. It's be on time, it's be respectful, it's the work hard and those three things we live by here. So those guys are doing that, they're showing that. And to be a good team that you have to show it

every single day. And that's what the guys were doing. And the leaders show it obviously, and the other guys show the way, but you also want them to lead on their own. So that's how I've been a big topic. Yeah, it is. You know, everybody's a leader. You know, you got to be able to lead and you lead by example. You know. It's not a big You don't need to say a lot of things. You need to do. You need to be a doer. We want doors in this building, guys that go to to go to work and do

their business every single day. And as Matt Ebert Fluce bears head coach following a lost to the Lions, getting ready for the Atlanta Falcons snap bootleg fields, he's got an opportunity pickling the water. Come at Mexico, rob of the eighteen. There he goes to the end zone, touchdown, touchdown, Bears fifty yard strike on second and one and come

out with this second touchdown of the day. Welcome back to the Bears coach you show with Bears head coach Matt Ebert flus fifty yard touchdown throw to Cole Commit. How much do it run plays? Set up those deep balls? Right?

You know, that's all set up by the outside wide zone stretch game, you know, so you have to build a run that first, and that's one of our bread and butter plays and we run at several other plays too, but that's one of the plays we really hang our hat on is the wide zone, and off of that comes to keepers. You know, have the keepers off of it where you have different various route concepts to be

able to throw shots down the field. Sometimes they're just normal routes concepts, like a normal boot you got a guy in the flat, a guy and an over out, maybe a guy running a deep comeback. But some of those times we take shots on those and those are the post post corner concepts, and that's what Cole ran

um the other day and it was really good. It was a pump play and he was wide open on the back side of that and there was confusion in the in the coverage, and uh, I thought Cole did a great job of really focusing, you know, catching that ball, you know, because it was in the sun. Um, he had to turn around a little bit for it and it was up there for a while. And man, what an athlete he is. And he's really really impressing us this year with his with his ability to catch and

run with run after the catch. Yeah. I brought it up both times because those both catches, both touchdown catches. You're battling the sun, you know. Uh, that part of Soldier Field at that time of day is challenging. It is this time of year or two because the sun gets lower, you know, this time of year, and certainly it's hitting that corner that we saw yesterday. But great concentration. So five touchdowns in three games. He had four catches for seventy four yesterday, I believe it or not. This

is what happens when you start scoring points in the NFL. Right, It's the first since win. But Cole Comet first Bears player with two receiving touchdowns in back to back games since Johnny Morris back in nineteen sixty four. Nice, I like that. Yeah, but you know this relationship with it and I've heard now comparisons also. It happens again when

you start scoring touchdowns, people start looking for comparisons. But Mark Andrews the quarterback with a running quarterback in Baltimore, there's a lot of similarities Mark Andrews and Cole Commet. I don't know for sure if you feel that way or scouts feel that way, but it's a heck of a comparison now. And with a QB tight end relationship like that, it can last to ten years. Yeah, it's really it's really nice to be able to have him.

You know, first of all, the way he works every single day, he's positive, he's energetic, He's exactly what we want for a Chicago Bear. In turns how he goes about his business every single day. And he's a good player, you know. So the couple of those two things, with his partnership with the quarterback, that's a great tam to have. And those guys are doing a great job. This year. Really the chemistry, you know, in the connection they have really worked on during the course of practice is really

paying off into games. And he's born to be a bear because he grew up in Chicago. Bear right, you know it's perfect. Yeah, there you go. Perfect. He's got pro football in his blood too, so he's he's got it all here does week seven through week ten, Fields now ranks eighth in the league in quarterback passer rating eight passing touchdowns. That's tied for second in the league with the likes of Mahomes, Rogers, Gino Smith, Andy Dalton.

But overall, what we're seeing, what we're hearing, the specialness, as you referred to it as it's a runaway freight train, just like he was a freight train on that run to the end zone. We'll get into some of these plays when we run the highlights, but he's doing a little bit of everything and it's quite entertaining, Matt yea quite entertain yes it is. And we're seeing him go right before our eyes and you know he's gonna he's getting better and all aspects of the game. Um, he's

getting more comfortable in the offense. Uh, he's learning. We're able to change and adjust to his style a little bit, but also change and adjust the offense as we go, you know, so we can't line up and run the same things, you know every week. We got to be creative and we are doing that. And the offensive staff and gets here doing a great job. All right, let's talk about the offensive line. A seventh change in ten games,

and which is never good for an offensive line. Tevin Jenkins unable to go this past week's goal field goes in at guard. Just what's your thought of that is and how it's all working. No, I just I would just say, you know, uh, Chris Morgan, our offensive line coach, you know, um, I mean I know that, you know, Austin King, they do a great job of getting those

guys ready. You know, they have the ability those three players that don't start to be able to swing in and out like that, um is really important, you know. And Schofield's one of those guys that can move in and out. And he did a nice job of stepping in there, um, you know, late in the week and stepping in or during the game. But that's a credit to him on the players around him and also the coaches around him and Alex Leatherwood was active, But where

is he had in his progress? Right? Good, he's doing good. He's again reflecting him in and out as well, and he's learning the offense and he's making steady progress all right. Last season, the Bears had eleven unnecessary roughness caused that. It was number one in the league at the first one yesterday, and that was the sideline Kyler Gordon trying to take the ball out and the quarterback gets a little shove in the back and boom, they're gonna they're

gonna do that with QBS, no question about it. It's but as a young player, that's another learning moment for the future. Yeah, we showed that in a team meeting. You know, we said it to everybody and we've talked about it before. With quarterbacks on the sideline, you cannot shove them or move them in the white you can't do it because they protect the quarterbacks, you know. So

we showed that we're learning from that. And again all he did was punched the ball and maybe laid a hand on him and then you know there they go on the sideline and they're gonna call those plays And was it unnecessary roughness? I don't know, but they're typically gonna call that. More Fields looking the throw pump big now in big trouble, brought down enough you step the tackle left to the five. Did he get in? He powers in and somehow gets in the end zone and

blew through it. The chart Lion made something big out of nothing. Touchdown. Bears Calling. All Bears fans get the ultimate VIP fan package with Chicago Bears VIP security, game ticket and appearance from Bears legends and more by visiting Chicago Bears vip dot com. Welcome back to the Bears Coachy Show with head coach Matt Eberflus. Just heard a

riveting run by Justin Fields. Many things went through my head trying to describe that play, but seeing it a second and third and fourth and fifth time now when he loaded his shoulder into Deshaun Elliott which knocked him out of the game. That was a vicious play by a big, thick quarterback. And I think you and I talked about this in pregame yesterday. Just the size is something you have to take into account. Is a big quarterback. He's not Dante Colepepper at two hundred and forty five

fifty pounds, but he's thick, he can deliver it. I don't think Dante can move that fast either. I played against Dante when he was at Central Florida. We're at the University of Toledo U back in like ninety eight, I want to say, or ninety seven, I don't remember. But yeah, I mean I think he has play foot speed, but I don't know that. I mean, Lamar definitely does, Michael Vick does. But sure, let's talk about that first before we get into the speed of this guy, because

that's a want two touchdown. Yeah, it is. It is, And we did as a football team. We did a really nice job of whittling that clockdown, you know. So that was right before the half um. You know, so we have a mechanics for that, and obviously we've been doing a really good job of that, you know, points before half. Um. We're won in the league doing that

right now with point differential. We scored forty points I believe up to that point and we have a plus thirty point differential, So we're first in the league right before half scoring that way. But uh, and that's really a credit to you know, the offensive staff and really the game management of that being able to whittle that clockdown. And we had a situation there, right, the ball goes out of bounce, right, they call it out of bounce.

Then they changed their call from it's a fumble in bounce, so we end up using because it's a clock stoppage there. We end up using that because it's going to be a hot clock to start. We had to use our time out to avoid a ten second runoff before that play actually happened, so that was good. So we had twenty five seconds, we still had two timeouts. We're all clear, squared away on that, and then it ends up being we're justin. Joss back on that one play and just

makes a remarkable play. He makes like four or five guys miss and then he takes it and decides to go north. And when he does that, it's it's pretty special. Do you ever hold your breath? Well, he's he's got to be smart, you know, we talked about being smart and being wise. He was going to score a touchdown there. He used what he needed to use to get in there,

so he was he was smart that way. Then the kickout goes out of bounds, right, and now you get a get a hail Mary, which you practice probably every week anyway, right, Yep, defending that, but it's one of those moments though it could have. I mean, we've seen it happen. Yeah, you just can't let it happen. But yeah, we did an okay job. We can clean some things up in the execution of that very last play, for sure.

And I'm thinking Eddie because I know Eddie was he wants to pick, let's face it, but hey, you never know. Also take the pick, get the block and going and stranger things have happened, you take at the distance. Yep, you never know with Eddie because he's a good athlete for sure. Exactly the pick six, that's a second of his career, but thirteen quarters without an interception before that one.

So it's not a problem. It's not a problem right now. No, the offense has done a really good job of protecting the ball. You know. That was just you know, one mistake, you know, one play. He'll tell you, like he said yesterday, he should have just dirted it in the ground, you know. So the mechanics of it, the timing of it was a little bit off on that particular screenplay and just

should have just dirted it in the ground. All right, Let's get to the speed element now, because and I had a couple of conversations this morning with some former NFL players. You know, everybody knows what speed looks like. But with the way he runs a long strider, right, but he's still pulling away from guys and he almost makes them look like they're standing still. There's some fast guys on that field yesterday. Has he got a different kind of speed that we just teams and players are

not understanding at this juncture. Yeah, I think that, you know, just watch the tape, you know, you see him breakdown angles, you know, as people have angles on them and he just breaks them down. And that's what he has the ability to do that. He's his speed is as fast as it needs to be, you know, I always say that, so the guys that are super fast. He has different gears than most people, and he's able to pull away from guys as you saw in that sixty seven yard

run on that third and one. And he's also able to pull away guys, you know, from on the sideline. You know, he can do that as well and get out of bounce. But he's been doing a great job with that. We just got to continue to be smart when we do it. Is he tired, you know, it's it's you know, we're working into our bye week coming here, right, So we got three games to go before the buy, and we're gonna be smart about, you know, keeping our

guys fresh. You know, we want to really do a good job of being fresh playing our style these last three games before we get to that buy. So we're gonna be smart with our football team. And because he runs so much by choice and design, would it ever be a situation where his legs grow fatigue during a game that affect the way he passes. I don't know. I'm just throwing it off. Yeah, I don't. I don't

feel that way. I don't feel that way. He's you know, super strong, and he's got a great win and endurance and he really works himself, you know. So he's had that that foundation in terms of his conditioning level. So I don't see that happening. But we gotta be smart with him during the week to making sure that he is one hundred percent fresh on game day. Second, at seven, I've a minute to play here on the third golf on the takeaway fakes it sets to throw pressure coming

hit and down he goes the jackhammer. Jack Sanborn his second sack today, that one coming on the blitz and it gets at home and golf goes down a loss of five. Great seats available to see You're Chicago Bears this season at Soldier Field. Get your tickets at Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets. You just heard one of two Jack Sanborn sacks a beauty because he's going up against a big dude, young a Penney Sewell and he

had the leverage, worked him and beat him. Yeah, those are those are some of the simulated pressures that we run, you know, where you were only rushing four guys, but you're simulating like you're rushing five or six guys and we're just really just dropping back into coverage. And uh so, you know, if he had the protection right, you can get that right. And he did a really good job of just uh you know, hitting it, you know, with

speed and he gets his pads down. He always has the ability to keep his toes pointing at the quarterback. He doesn't work away from the quarterback. He works towards the quarterback the entire time. So he has a really natural knock for that. How about the other sack? What was the Yeah, yeah, the other one was he you know, we got him on the move, you know. It was they're trying to hit the short pylon and Joe did a really good job. Joe Thomas did a really good job.

But he was the outside pressure player. He ended up picking up the guy in the flat, which that was his first read. And then uh, Samborne did a great job of rapping the rush and had a nice sack on that one and tracked down Jared Goff for a three yard loss. So at twelve tackles had an interception taken away. If you didn't, you win the game. I mean, there's conversation about a guy being an NFC Defensive Player of the Week, honestly, because two sacks of interception wins

a game in twelve tackles. That's some pretty heavy stuff for a second career start. No, that's good numbers, and that's what we expect of our linebackers. You know, they play off the guys in front of him, and we've had some guys in there in the past that have had super good numbers. I mean, you can start naming the names. I mean there's some guys in our system that have had the ability Hall of Fame type players that have had the numbers in there, So we expect

that of our linebackers. Those are big shoes to fill and those guys should be productive every single week. What are you learning about what he is? No? Smart, very instinctive. We knew that, you know from the preseason watching his college tape. He's got a really good knack for the ball. He has, you know, good ball hawking skills, and we're excited where he is because he does have good instincts.

You know, guys can trigger fast, guys can move fast or quick to the ball, and he's got good tackling ability. Nick Morrow three tackles for loss. Playing the week's side last two weeks. You mentioned good things last week, same here. Yeah, yeah, he was solid. Both those guys graded out high this week. They had a really good game, you know, defending the run. You know, a good week of defending the run this week, which is which is real positive for the whole group.

That's the defensive line, the front seven. You know, linebackers in the safeties did a nice job aut defending the run for sure. Yeah, I think I hope, I'm right. I don't know. I think nineteen tackles by the entire defensive line group, just the defensive lineman I, which would be quite a bit for this season. That might be a season high. Is that? Am I right on the money? So did that? That's what you want? That's what you want.

That means the ball is not getting into the secondary and the run game, and we're doing a good job of really snuffing it out at the line of scrimmager a right. Dominique Robinson had six tackles now also virtue he played fifty five snaps in the game. So that is that the kind of production you want. Obviously you'd like to get some sacks if possible, but that's not

the case right now. Shared at tackle for loss in this one overall wod Yeah, we were getting a lot of production out of those rookies, you know, with Samborne, Dominic Robinson, you know, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker. We're getting a lot of production out of those guys and that's great to see. You know, those guys are going to be here and they're gonna be working here for the Chicago Bears, and they're they're improving every single week now.

Dominic had more reps because you know, Moe was out, Muhammad was out, and they were sharing the role really with Gibson was on one side, he was on the other side taking the ball with that work and you know the other guys that were in there, they got maybe ten, ten to five plays and that was it. So guys did a really good job with their stamina.

They gutted it out without having that extra piece in there, all right, and Justin Jones uh I circled him as one of the key players this week before the game and just to be a penetrator, be a disruptor. He had a good staff, very nice Yeah, he did a very nice job. He also graded out a yesterday. He had a lot of good production TfL's you know pressures. You had that pressure on that on that big Hail Mary play, which I think you know made him sort

even shorter. But he's been productive for us. You know, he's our he's one of our captains and one of our leaders on defense, and he's been a nice job of really rallying those guys um these last couple of games help keep the ball in there. He goes justin middle of the field. Party five, bring rush in front of him. Please reliance on his way, running left to the ten five ends of touchdown, he goes sixty seven yards. Ready sent and go to any jewel Osco for freshness

at your fingertips. With every handoff, get everything from produce and meat to Delhi treats and more. Just heard the sixty seven yard run by Justin Fields for the touchdown two weeks in a row, first time in NFL history to rush for at least two twenty five and five

straight games. Fourth in history with a fifty yard touchdown pass and a fifty plush yard touchdown run of the same game, sharing that with Lamar cam Newton and a gentleman by the name of Ace Parker in nineteen thirty eighties of Pro Football Hall of Famer first quarterback Since Tobin wrote in nineteen fifty one, with at least one hundred twenty five rusher yards in consecutive games, and he said it best, I don't care about records, I care

about wins, right, But comes with that is this uniqueness that we're seeing. Well, it's winning football, you know, and that's what he does care about. We got to make sure that you know, he continues to do winning football, which is take care of the ball, take care of himself, make sure that he's you know, staying out harm's way and operating the offense. And he's doing much better job

every single week. You can see his growth. He's getting better, he's improving in all areas, and we're excited about where he is. And you know, the inevitable of getting Walter Payton's name mentioned in these unbelievable records as well, first Bears player to rush for at least one hundred forty seven yards and back to back game since Walter and that was back in nineteen eighty four before the Bears

became a Super Bowl team. On the day as actually that he broke Jim Brown's all time rushing record against the Saints October seventh, nineteen eighty four. Thank you, Larry

Mayor of Chicago Bears dot Com. But it's fun stuff for Bears fans because, honestly, there hasn't been this kind of stuff in the history of Bears football, this kind of production from that position running the football right now, and the passing aspect of it is also developing, and more of it to come you can understand why everyone's excited, right, No,

there's no doubt. I mean you talk about the legends of the Chicago Bears, you go back to Red Greens, you know, and Bronco Nagurski, you know, and then Walter of course, and all the great runners, Gail, I mean, all the guys that have been able to run the ball, you know, with electricity like that, you know, break tackles and run and break runs that are long runs. Um,

that's pretty special, you know. And he has that that trait you know as a quarterback, which is even more special, you know, because he's the he's a passer first, and then he's a has the ability to run the ball as well, and he's running the offense, you know, doing a good job of growing every single week. But uh, certainly a special guy. And you know, a guy that we're looking at here as a Chicago Bears fans watch these games. You're seeing something special every single week. Fourth quarters,

passing the ball getting touched down. Is that the next step? Yeah? I think it is. I think it is. We got to execute as a football team. You know, that game came down to us executing as a team. We needed to you know, seal the deal on offense with seven minutes ago, and then we needed to do a great job on defense of sealing the deal too, you know.

So it's it's not just one side, it's it's the whole team, and we have to do a good job of that in the fourth quarters because we know that these games are coming down to these uh, these tight games are always going to come down to that in the end. I didn't hear your news conference this morning. They were asking you something about when you got here, what did you think of Justin and what do you

think now? Can you complete that sentence for him? Yeah? So, you know, when you're looking at different jobs across the league, you know, you know, had a was fortunate to be build an interview for us a couple of spots this time. But I've you know, I've had like, I think six interviews over the course of three or four years, uh and my time as a defensive coordinator. And you look at at organizations, but the first scene you look at is you know how the organizations set up, you know,

is it set up for success? And then who's going to be the quarterback? And that that's those are two things you have to check off right away, you know, do you believe in the organization and the leadership, And that was a definite yes for me with the McCaskey family. And then you look at the quarterback with Justin Fields being here, and that was a green light all the way. You know, you watch a tape on them, you saw the electricity is a ability to you know, throw the ball,

his deep ball passing. That's I've been saying that along. I got that first one. I watched him from you know, last year's tape, his college tape. You know, I knew that that's a trade of his and then his special athletic ability, you know, use the right way, it can be a special, special player for the Chicago Bears. I think it impacts more because you are a defensive coach first and foremost. So you know what is hard to stop? Is that part of it? Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

And you know what's difficult to stop for sure. And I think that when you look at the guys across the league. You know, I came into the league, what fourteen years ago, um so I've seen the drop back passers. You know, I've seen the rivers and the bradies and the you know Breezes and you know the Roethlisbergers. I've seen those guys when and when they're in their prime, you know. And then you saw the maturation of the game changing. You know, it started to change, you know

with the Russells and everybody. You know, uh Lamar and Josh and all the guys. They have now pat all the guys and our guy and you can see the maturation and the changing of the guard. The game has changed, you know. So defensive coaches have to you have to change, they have to adjust to these guys and and it's all about stopping the quarterback. And you can see it. And again when I was the coordinator, we certainly had to adjust because we were on the on the front

end of that when it certainly started. But it is an exciting time for the NFL. These guys make the league special and it's fun to watch. Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show with Matt Eberflus. Now it's time to look ahead. Brought to you by Bette Rivers, the official sports book partner of the Bears. The Bears back on the road Sunday, taking out the four and six Falcons in Atlanta, the Falcons coming off ten days rest after losing to the Panthers twenty five to fifteen last

Thursday night. Before we get into the game itself a little bit, I want to touch on some players. Matt Adams, he's out there. I don't know if you've heard this. He had a shirt off in the cold yesterday warming up at Soldier Field. I thought, what am I seeing here? Now? This is a guy who's braving the elements. Now you know him better than us. Yeah, is that Matt Adams? Met is a little crazy, um, but I could see him doing that. I'll make sure he has a shirt

on next time. It was awesome. Believe me, it was awesome. He was good and he is he close? Is he close to getting back? Yeah? We think he is. We always see where he is this week, but we do think he's close. And he's a really good player for us. You know he can he can do a lot of good things on special teams, but certainly help us at the linebacker level as well. All right, Jalen Jones getting more and more action, kindavill door out, how would you

rate where he's progressed over the course? They see on another undrafted guy, but out of the SEC where he faced a lot of great talent. Yeah, he's doing a solid job. You know, he's been in there. He's really done a good job on teams for us, you know, as a gunner in different spots for us, on the cover teams for sure. Um, you know, he's a big four phase guy. But he's also got his work on defense, you know, and he's doing a solid job with there.

You know, he's learning, you know, he's learning the game um as he goes, and he's got some good experience in there, and we're glad to have him. I know a lot of folks look at targets and snaps or whatever with the receiver position. Darnel Money is always getting a ton of snaps, but Claypool, uh didn't get a ton of snaps or targets. Same with Pringle coming back. But you know, you game plan for each opponent, so right, whatever you're going to try and exploit, you're gonna exploit that.

That's not to say that there's a reason for that other than that. Correct, No, you know, obviously Cole had the most you know, targets yesterday, then followed by Mooney and I think Pettis head was it was the next and then pring Old, then Clay, but um, you know, I just think that it's uh, you know, it's game by game, you know, and sometimes it was guys were targeted and they were the primary and we had to go to the secondary read So that happens all the time.

And then nikkil Harry and Bayleis Jones. Do you have these conversations with these players and how are they accepting them and is it what you expect them to think it? Yeah, it's like I said last week, and and I think post game or maybe it was on Monday, but it was. You know, it's about competition, you know, it's about guys, you know, delivering during the course of the week, you know, alignment, assignment, knowing your job, doing your job, blocking the point, blocking

on the back side, and then being a playmaker. That's what the receiver positions about. And we're going to reevaluate that every single week. Are there guys on the practice squad right now that are making an impact that we're not even aware of that could be finding their way to action at some point in the season or is that still an ongoing process? I mean, are the guys, I mean, how they perform. Yeah, they're doing well. They're doing well. The guys, the show team guys are really

the backbone of our practices. You know. They have to do a great job and they are of giving us the looks we need offense, defense and kicking, and those guys are doing a tremendous job. They play with speed, they play with you enthusiasm, they get they do it right, Their alignments are good, they're trying to mock what the opponents they are trying to give to us on game day, and we've got to get a good look every single week. And those practice squad guys are doing a really good job,

you know. And that's something that's probably not a small thing because you need them to give the same kind of effort that you're expecting if they were running a Bears plays. They're doing snap for the opposition here because you're not going to get a true field. No, that's right, and you know we're evauating those guys. We evaluate their talent, their effort, their skill sets every single week. When we're looking at on offense, you guys are looking at the

defensive players and vice versa. So it's an important part and obviously Ryan's crew, you know, and Ian are looking at those guys every single week, and we're always trying to improve our roster. We're always trying to upgrade our practice squad, and you know, upgrade the Chicago Bears. I thought it was interesting. Nate Sutfeld, the backup quarterback for Detroit, had to be justin fields at practice last week and he was out of breath. Yeah, they ran him into

the ground. I mean, think about that. Who's going to imitate that guy? Yeah, that's gonna be hard right everywhere? Yea, in most cases, in most cases. Anyway, all right, let's look at the Falcons. Arthur Smith. You coached against his offenses in the AFC South, So he seems like a very competitive and very fiery coach. Yeah, he is, and he's a very good coach. He's committed to the run game. He's big into play actions. He's made his living off of that, and they do it better than most for sure.

And uh, he's done a nice job for the Falcons. And yeah, they're fourth in the league. And rushing to your point about that, what's your thoughts on Marcus Mariota. Yeah, you know, he has the difference. He has the ability to run the ball, you know, just like our guy exactly. So they have the disconnects, they got the quarterback runs, the design runs. You know, Marcus I believe was with the Raiders last year and did a lot of the uh you know quarterback runs with them as well on

third and short because we played him last year. And uh, you know, obviously a heck of an athlete. And they're twelfth and scoring entering this week. H Cordell, Patterson, Tyler l Gear. They're like they are like twelve guys running the football. And then you got a tight end with the unique athleticism basically wide receiver and Kyle Pitts, which's been your experience with him. No, they're all good athletes, all those guys. They all create a lot of mismatched

problems for you. And they're strong and they're they're athletic, and their their ability to run with the ball after they catch it. You know, like Cordell is an amazing player in the in the special teams as well as you know, just him being the big athlete he is. Yeah, if he's back there and kick return, he's been lining up nine and three quarters deep in the end zone, so he's willing to take a deep kick out. That's

that's nothing new. He's done that before in the past, right, So that'll that'll be a that'll be a game plan thing for you, whether ye try to boot it out. We got good special teams as well. Yeah. How about defense, Grady Jared always a tough guy to deal with. Yeah, he's a forc inside for sure. He's he's a big problem to handle. Um, you know the defensive coordinators. One of my mentors, danps I, used to be as GA

way back at Toledo, so he's a good coach. Work with him for quite a while at Toledo before he went to Notre Dame in the early nineties. But there was a long time ago, but we've stayed in touch and certainly really respect him. You know, I love his wife mel and uh, we're super close. But he's a good coach. He keeps coming out of retirement. Yeah, yeah, he does well. He's he's a Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator a couple of spots, so he's done a good job.

That's a pretty cool story right there. Uh. And there's a lot of expair players coaches on that staff to kind of be kind of an interesting lead up to the game. I guess if no, it'll be a good matchup for sure. Yeah. Overall, you feel good, Yeah, we feel good. We feel good where we are. We're excited about this week. We got to get back to work, you know, clean up the things that we need to clean up, and just keep improving the things that we're

doing well. And our eyes are forward to Atlanta. All right, good luck, Thank you so much, appreciate it. Enjoy the preparation this week. Thank you. As Bear's head coach, Matt Eberflus, want to thank our producers Keith Johnson, Andy Gersherd, Dan Burrelli and Jordan tread Up. We're headed to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. Our pregame coverage at nine, kick off at noon. Appreciate you, listen to everybody, have a great night coming up CBS News here at the top

of the hour. This is News Radio one oh five nine w BBM.