Nagy, Lazor preview Packers | Coaches Show

you did all weekend? What was relax at home? I still watched a lot of football, still did a lot of prep, which is I think important, and but it's also good to just step away and reset a little bit and refresh. I think when you get to this far into the season, no matter whether it's on a four game win streak or four game losing streak, it's always good to just step back and see where you're at. Reset, And that's the part that gets exciting as we move

forward here. It's pretty impossible to let your mind wander away from a plan, isn't it It is. Yeah, it's hard, and I do I believe that for the rest of the staff, the position coaches, the support staff, others that are in the building that I you know, and just for me being there in other roles, it is important that they go get away for a little bit, get to see the family, be a dad, be a mom, whatever that may be, and just reset and recharge. Now for me in my role, it's a little bit different

and that's okay. But at the same point in time, I also need to do that as well, and so that's that's what I did for certain times of the day. But also you get locked in and you get excited to as any competitor, what to get back on track. Well, as you're thinking through your own team and what needs to improve and how do you approach the Packers. While you're watching these games unfold, what crosses your mind? What

are you noticing in the league right now? Well, I would say the biggest thing is that Number one, you're never out of a game, and we've we've obviously experienced that all year long. One other thing that you're seeing is the ability to play a clean game in all three phases. That there's so many ebbs and flows in this game, and teams that are getting down in the red zone and all of a sudden they throw an interception in the red zone. And there's a sudden change,

and how do you react to that? Do you panic or do you stay the course? Do you fight back to get on track? And that's kind of what I've noticed is the teams that are able to move the sticks on offense, the teams that are able to get turnovers on defense, they use that hand in hand and then they score touchdowns and they win games. And so it's it's always interesting to step back and see how

other teams are going. My position specifically, I like to see decision making that coaches make in a game, and there's a lot of that that went on this weekend. So in review, now, did the week give you any new perspectives on what has transpired and where is this going here in the final six? Yeah? I would say that for us, you know, what we need to do

is continue to fight every day together. The coaches need to do that, the players need to feel that, the players need to keep the energy going and know that it just takes one win, that there is still a lot of season remaining. That each and every game that goes by, Uh, it really does. Depending on what you do,

mean more more and more as you go. So this one being a division game on the way such a huge rivalry against a great team, you know we are going to have to play our a game and go in there with a great attitude and and just have an ability to as we talk this morning, you want to expect it. You want to expect to win, you

want to expect to play well. It's all about positive thoughts and so that's that's a part of the game that I really feel like can be one of our strengths and then we can get clicking, particularly on offense.

Do you feel that the expectation to play well, the expectation to score points has been lost a little bit because of the frustration and the constant stuck in the mud type approach with with what's happened here in the first ten well, I would say that, yeah, for us to not play as well as we want to play on offense, it's the word frustrating is obviously what pops into your mind is you get frustrated, and that can

lead to other things. And then and then what happens is is generally whether you're a coach or a player, you just start to press. And when when you press, you're not you're not playing to your highest your highest level of ability, so that you know, what we need to do is make sure that we stay relaxed, We don't press. We make sure that we as coaches are

putting these players in great scenarios. And then the players got to go out and they got to execute and they got to make plays, and um, it's a matter of both of those clicking at the same time. Uh. And so it is a long season, and things happen for a reason. And until we stop this and until we get better and score more points, we won't know exactly. You know what could happen with a with a great day of offense combined with a great day of defense

and special teams. Oh, you're using the extra day to to wait until Wednesday to make any decisions on various fronts or at least not reveal at the moment, whether it be injuries or the quarterback position. But is it it is safe to say, as you refer to this a week ago, really on this on this show and everything's on the table. Yeah, everything is for us, and um, you know that that's what I think is our job as coaches is to make sure are we putting everybody

in the right position possible? But there's also that that fine line and making sure you're not just changing the change in certain areas and then what are we doing? And that's that's on the coaching side too, you know, schematically, what is it is? It? Is it because the play call? Is it because somebody missed a block? Like? What are the wise that we had the ability to go back and look at all that? I feel like offensively for us, the self scout that we've done, it was not fun.

I'll tell you that. It wasn't fun going going through and seeing where we're at and where we rank and all and all this and there's some you know pretty uh you know, there's some things that you really want to you gotta get fixed. And and so what we'll do is do everything we can to stay away from what we're doing, uh, you know, poorly and what we're doing well, and then let's do more of what we were doing well. It's getting the run game back two weeks one and two and three. The key to the

whole thing. Yeah, yeah, you have you have to you have to be able to run. And whether that means that, uh, you know, whether it means you're running the ball forty times a game or twenty five times a game. You want to be productive with your yards per tempt. I think that's what's key, is where's that at? And then you got to stay persistent with it and and but that's that's also that's also the easy thing to go to and say, you know, yeah, you gotta be able

to run the ball. Well, you gotta be able to do some other things too. And I think that's where for us, whether it's throwing the football to open the run or it's running the football to open the pass, we have to figure out whatever it is. I really don't care. You know, what I care about is scoring points to scoring touchdowns. And that's not your mentality. Um, I don't care if it's a fourteen play drive or a two play drive. I just want six points. And

that's kind of my focus right now. Back when you got the Bears Coaches Show with head coach Mattneggie, We're brought to you by Whippley CPAs and Consultant Time Jeff Joniac and the Chicago Bears improve An it Tre supporting Chicago small businesses for p Industrial Cleaning Corporation is this week's small Business All Pro Visit Chicago Bears dot com, slash small business all pros to learn more, Matt. Stats always tell a tale, but so of your eyes. We

focused on what hasn't been working that you saw. You said, it wasn't pretty to watch, wasn't fun. But is there enough positives to harvest from the tape? Yeah, And because what's happened is, you know, when you're talking offensively, there's some spurts now and there's some things that we're doing well where we're able to show that Hey, when we do put it all together and all eleven people are executing at the right time, and we you know that things get really good, and so we try to hang

our hat on that stuff as well. Unfortunately for us this season offensively, there's just been a lot more bad than good. And you know, so we spent this time being able to look at, okay, for instance, third down down, not just third down, but specifically an area in third down. And you know, we've done a pretty good job, Jeff. It's staying away from the third and longs. We're actually

we're actually doing well at converting third and loans. Where we're struggling right now is in that third and three to six area where you want to kind of live in because they're manageable and we're not doing as good as we should be in that area. So we got to figure out to ourselves, Okay, how do we get better there? Right? You know other situational football areas that

we can be better at across the board. I you know, again in the red zone, being able to get down there and say, okay, you know, we got these different players here in this system, and we want to be you know, we got to score touchdowns. Is it through throwing the ball or is it running the ball? I don't care. I just want touchdowns. And so what we're going to do is figure out, Okay, schematically, are we putting the guys in the right scenario, are we targeting

the right guys? Are we executing the right way when a play is called? And so when all that goes in unison and we can be effective and we can really help out our team. I know you're not going to say, because you shouldn't. It's it's it's your strategy, it's your analysis. But when you did address all of those things you just said, were you surprised at what you saw what you heard from the coaches? And do

you see fixes. Do you see where okay, yeah, here's where we are going to get better at third and three to third to six, or here's we are kind of hit the right targets in the red zone. Has that been revealing to you? I guess yeah it has. And I think that because we're all about answers and solutions, and that's kind of the that's the fun part in coaching is Okay, uh, we're not very good in this area. Well,

what are we going to do to fix it? Are we going to just continue to keep trying it and say, yeah, it's execution. These guys just aren't running, or they're dropping the ball, or we missed a block here it was it was a poor accuracy on this throw um or you know, mental error or you know, bad play call. They didn't give us what we thought. Well, let's go ahead and let's let's say, okay, what do we do well?

Who's playing well in these areas? And let's get the ball to them and and then but then also let's let's hold these players accountable, and let's hold ourselves as coaches accountable for calling the right players in the right scenarios, being efficient, being effective, And so I think that's where the collaboration of talking to players, um, talking to the coaches, getting different ideas. Uh, you know, stay staying open in

that scenario will help us. And now you know, when we get in that scenario, did we change and are we better? And that's what that's what the goal is. Defensively, the impact of Roe quant Smith to me is the headline development of the first ten weeks because you are counting on a major jump. I think with the green dot on his helmet, he's taken that with some ownership and you feel some of the leadership that we heard about at Georgia. It may not be vocal, but it

is by action. And are you excited about yet what he can put out on the table here Because he's setting new lines of scrimmages better than anybody in the league, playing one of the best line backing roles in the league right now, That to me is the big one. How do you look at it the same way? And I think with Roquan is what's impressive to me is he started off really hot and he's just become even better and better and he doesn't you know, there's just

a pure consistency to the way he practices. He never gets too high low, but he just has this leadership trait when he's out there in practice where he's just so focused. I think what I'm seeing happen right now, Jeff is a great trust between him and Coach Pregano on the headset, and not so much even just him

trusting Coach Bergano, but Coach Bregano trusting Roquan. When he's out on that field and being able to get guys in certain areas and certain lineups in different fronts, motions and shifts that you might see, he's done an amazing job. That's the mental side, the physical side of him being able to run around and make plays and tackles for losses and at opportune times guys are feeding off for that.

He's becoming a player right now. He's currently a player right now that if you are scheming on offense, you have to know where fifty eights at on every play. That's a good thing to have when you have him on your team. Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show, brought to you by Whippley CPAs and Consultants, a proud partner at the Chicago Bears. Learn more at whippley dot Com. Jeff Joanna Yac with head coach Mattneggie. How are you? How have you weathered the challenges of everything that has

been twenty twenty football and beyond. Yeah, No, I'm doing good. I appreciate you asking you know that. I think that, Um, just from what we've been through as a as a team, as a family, as an organization. It's never easy. But you know, when you have great people around you and people that support you, you appreciate that. And these are these are what You've heard me say this a million times. This is what I've signed up for. This is what

we've signed up for in this profession. And again, if it was going to be easy, I would not be the only one in this role right now. And it's not easy. So you got to be able to have a lot of belief. And the people around you, and your coaches in the personnel side, and a person like Ryan Pace and Ted and George and these players and people that you're around every single day, are that are just going to battle to do everything we can to get back on track. And so that's what gets you

through it. And um, you know that's who I am. That's my DNA is to stay positive and to keep these guys going. I know that they're looking at meat and how I'm reacting to this whole thing, and so that's very important for me for them to understand where I'm at. And as I said the other week, you know, you can quit or you can fight. Well, we're gonna fight, and we're gonna fight each and every play. Uh and then once we get that one win, we're gonna take that one and try to stack the next one and

see where this thing goes. One of the things I love about jan and Johnson. He does a lot of interviews with the media and he's very consistent. But before he was drafted, I think somebody found a story about one of the players he couldn't wait to see was Davante Adams in the National point. This is what before he was drafted by the Bear. So he it's his chance on Sunday night at one of the best receivers at the line of scrimmage, let alone everything else he does.

But I love that confidence and he's not backing down at all. No, he's not. I think that's just the respect thing that that he has for Davanta. I mean, right now, Davante and Aaron Rodgers are playing at a level that not many people are playing at, and there's there's that ultimate trust that they haven't one another. They've been doing it together for a little while, and it's it's hard to stop. It's not easy. That's what. They're having a lot of success on that side of the ball.

They're high powered and they score a lot of points. So we're certainly gonna have our hands full. I have a lot of trust and belief in our coaches, in our players on defense. I know they'll be looking forward to the challenge. But again, when you have a quarterback in a wide receiver that are in unison like they are, they certainly give you a big challenge. You know, I'm talking with Tom about this time. They're being an offensive lineman like himself, you know, loves the idea, the snap

kind of whatnot. And and Aaron Rodgers is so great. Get the hard counts to draw people off sides because there's no noise quiet venues. Is it harder to stop the hard counts because it's already hard? Yeah, you know it gets harder. You can see it when you watch it on TV with the TV copies y'all can understand now, I mean, and they even add some noise to that, so when you're down around the field sometimes it's it's not loud at all. So it's a weapon for quarterbacks.

You can use that as a weapon. And again, he's one of the best to ever do it. He knows it, and they have they have a great strategy to how they do it. So we have to make sure that we got our eyes and cross our t's on defense and you don't let that frustrate get and you just know that, Okay, you got to really be detailed into what you're doing. Your substitutions are crucial. You got to know how that goes, and then you got it. On

top of that, you gotta still make plays to stop them. So, uh, you know, that's not even talking about their defense and the way that they're playing and moving around. And I think, you know, Mike Patton, I think the world of I think he's a really good coordinator. Yeah, the same characters involved in the revival of this rivalry defensively, with Zadarius and Jayre and Kenny Clark some of the big names

on defense. They've added Christian Kirksey at linebacker but what do you see in how they're playing football right now? They did draw a lot of holding penalties. Yeah against the Colts, Yeah they did there there, there was a lot of penalties there. Um. You know, again, this is a team that I think, uh, you know, coach Patton does a good job of fitting his players into what they do best. And uh, you know, I think it starts with a guy like Zadarius Smith on that edge.

He sets the edge, and then his partner on the other side, with with Preston Smith and Kenny Clark on the inside, and uh you know, all these guys, I mean, the list goes on and on. They they do things really well and they make you work hard, both in the run game and in pass pro. On the back end, Alexander is playing. You know, I've always respected the way he's playing. I think he's got great ball skills. He's smart,

he savvy, he plays with a lot of instincts. And King on the other side, and then obviously they aim us on the back end with Savage. So all those guys, including their linebackers, they make it tough for you, and they play a lot of zone and they play man when they have to. But they're they're a good defense that compliments our offense really well. It could be a big weather day in terms of wind. That's what I'm hearing initially, so I'm brace for it. Right, it's lambeaux,

It's November knocking on December's door. In the meantime, you have yourself a happy Thanksgiving all right, nice Jeff, you two man take care. This segment it Bears All Access is brought to you by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request an appointment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow. Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show, brought to you by Whip Please cepa's and consultant Jeff Jonnyac now joined by Bill Laser, the Bears

offensive coordinator. After the bye week, Bill, I trust you had a good week, good weekend. Yeah, it was I think a much needed time for us to take take a little bit of time and go back do some self scouting, reevaluate. You know, did get to see the kid's awake a little bit too, so that helps. Any chance to get away from the grind is probably still thinking about the grind. For a coach in your position,

isn't it. You know, certainly you do get to spend a little bit of family time, but you also have to take advantage of the opportunity to go back and you know, remove them the emotion of some of the games and you have a little bit more time so you're not in such a hectic schedule to to go back and watch things m you know, maybe sort them differently, watch all the third downs together, watch all the red zones together, just try to try to come up with solutions.

And sometimes it's easier when you remove the emotion to see some of the issues that you think he can solve and try to get better at. And we got a lot of football ahead and let's let's see if we can make it better. With that being said, did you have any oh wow moments that Okay, I didn't really see that before. Yeah, I think I think there were little there were little things here and there, But but I think you try to get to the bottom of things. I think as coaches, we spend all of

our time correcting the mistakes that come up, the issues. Obviously, you're trying to spend time doing a great job being a teacher ahead of time, but then when the mistakes come up, you deal with them one at a time, and now maybe during a bye week you have a chance to look at the big picture and just see, Okay, I know we corrected these issues when they came up, but there is there a theme here that we have to do a better job with. And sometimes it means, look,

we've made a lot of errors in this area. Let's eliminate even trying to do that because we're not doing it very well. And sometimes it means let's just see if there's a better way to teach it, or if there are better people to put in that spot. Maybe are we asking the right people to do it? So I think a lot of those things, Jeff, come up, and we got to take the information and be better going forward. How did it feel to get back calm place, Well, it would have felt better, I'd say if if we

scored more points, Jeff. So it wasn't really about how it feels, you know, it's really at this point, it's it's just about what can we do to be better? And uh, you know, personally, you just ask yourself every day and you come in what can I do today to contribute? So, um, I guess that that's I look at a little bit more that way than than how it feels. How about being in the in the booth upstairs as a give Do you like that? Is that more up your alley? Well? I think it was. It

was eerie being up there with no crowd. I mean I had obviously gotten used to being on the sideline without a crowd and having very little reaction. It was. It was a whole different feeling being upstairs and not having any reaction or any crowd. It's it's a very very insulated area, so it was it was definitely unique. Yeah,

I felt the same way as an announcer. I keep telling people I gotta leave my headset on because at least I'm hearing something, whether it's yeah, fake or whatever, because if I take it off, why I lose my emotion, I lose all my juice. Do do you feel that a little bit? Even as a coach, Well, you you just after a good play, you wait for the cheer and it doesn't so then you have to just double check to make sure we did we really catch that

ball because no one cheered. Yeah, I guess again, down on the sideline, we got used to it, so I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it's different. It's a different year. And before we go to a break earlier today, Bears head coach Mattneggie still evaluating the health of quarterbacks Nick Foles with his hip glued injury and Mitchell Dubisky's right shoulder before determining who will start Sunday night in Green Bay. The first injury report comes out

on Wednesday. There's also placing safety Eddie Jackson on the reserve COVID nineteen list. That designation required the year for players were either test positive or have been quarantined after having been in close contact with an effective person. And is my understanding the latter is the case here for Eddie Jackson, so he could be ready to go against the Packers on Sunday Night. Here with Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lasers, the Bears get ready for the green Bay Packers.

The math obviously offensively doesn't read well up and down. But I asked even Matt this earlier tonight, is there success hidden in those numbers that you guys are comfortable pulling out? Well, I think we've had a whole weekend or half a week to see the things that we've done well, and I think we just have to we have to make sure we're focusing on those and letting those things push us going forward. And some of it

is by people. You know, certain people have had success on maybe learning certain routes or certain certain runs and h and just just start leaning on those. And sometimes, you know, it's hard to take some schemes maybe that you really like, or we like, or maybe even the

players like. But after ten games you're looking you say, well, you know what, it hasn't been real successful, so maybe it's time to trim the fat a little bit on some of those things we were hoping would be better for us this year, and you just trim it out. So sometimes you you emphasize what's good and sometimes you cut off what's bad, and hopefully between the two, you know,

we get together with the good stuff. But um, yeah, I agree that you don't want to spend a whole lot of time looking at the overall numbers because they're they're not they're not pretty. Plus that's yesterday's news. Now it's a new paved road with six to go, starting with the Packers on Sunday night. Um, let's talk about a little bit about the return of Cody white Hair.

Did that help things on the offensive line a little bit in terms of stable and things, and maybe moving forward that will be a good place to begin at the center position. Well, I think I think veterans on the offensive line always help you because they've they've seen a lot, they've been through a lot. I think things happen,

so many things happen up front. It is. It is a little different game than it is in college in a lot of ways, especially when you get to third downs and blitz packages and the stunts and games defensive lines in the NFL runs. So the guy like Cody who's seen all that stuff before, he's been through it. Obviously he's he's uh, he's played the Packers before, you know. So I think it's I think it's a big help. And I think his his leadership also is a big deal,

you know. I think right now, when when you're going through tough times, you need to have all the leaders you can get. And so Cody's gonna help us in a lot of ways. I'm an old school football guy. I love running games. I love I love running backs. It's always been something that's resonated with me. So it's easy for me to always say, Okay, offense begins with a running game, but it can be built obviously off

the passing game too. But would it be fair to say that if that gets better, everything domino effect wise will get better. However you want to establish it either way, Yeah, I think I think it's it's uh, it's easier right when you can make some first downs running the football. And I thought there were some times early last week where where we felt like we were getting a little

bit of a rhythm and certainly weren't taking negatives. But when the when the run games, making your first down helping you get first downs, not only are you are you moving the football hopefully the first and second down run game is keeping you out of third down right, which is critical in the NFL. And then also it just it makes the defense makes some decisions. And let's face it, most defensive coordinators most of the time, if they feel you running the football, are going to react

to that, and then it opens up other things. Now, do you have to do it? No, there are some people that they can get it all done through the air, you know, and there are games where we've we've had to do that. But I think life is easier for everyone, and you can do both. Mannaggie will get into more on Wednesday about injuries and the quarterback position, but in general and maybe the hope that David Montgomery be ready

to return from his concussion protocol. But as I understood it from Charles London meeting with the media last week, there was a package of plays maybe for each of the backs. And how did you think that all worked out? With Patterson, Nall, Pierson, Lamar mill Are getting his first touches first of all, when when you only get whatever we got fifty plays or whatever the official count was.

You know when when you have one of those kind of games where you couldn't stay on the field long enough, then no one typically gets enough, right, I mean you it's easy to come out of the game those kind of games, and you have them occasionally. But then you say, well, why didn't such and such get enough carries or why

didn't such and such get enough catches or targets? Well, part of that is, uh, you know, when you have one of those games where you can't hang on to the ball and stay on the field and third down, I thought I thought for Patterson, I thought CP did a nice job, and obviously had had a little bit more higher percentage of the focus for us, and had some good, tough physical runs, which which we expected them

to do. And they're a nice third down conversion as a catch as a receiver, So I thought that was great. I think all the guys that played showed us something we'd hope to go in and to see that. And I think, uh, you know, when when a young players gets a chance to get the ball in his hands the first time, you know, everyone's kind of excited, and I think usual pattern is it's only going to keep

getting better from here. The Chicago Bears Network presents Inside the Bears, brought to you by a Verizon Anthony Adams and Lawrence Greed and cover the world of Bears football on and off the field every Sunday night at eleven o five pm on Fox thirty to Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot com or on the Bears official app by remaining moments with offensive coordinator Bill Laser.

What right now is the critical element of sustaining drives and getting time of possession because especially against a team like the Packers, would like the I think they lead the league in time of possession, just to get that kind of confidence going, and you'll hope it leads to points. Well, I think I think you got to think every play has a chance to get your first down, you know, and sometimes and some parts of the drive it's going to mean first down, second down, and you're gonna have

to convert a third down. But let's let's be just as happy to call a first down play and execute a first down play and get a first down and just keep adding first downs together. So uh, you know, we're not going to discriminate between running pass I just think just the mindset of every time I get the ball in my hands, let's let's turn the chains and

keep it going. And uh uh you know what, what you're almost You're almost at the point, Jeff, where you feel like if we just get that rhythm started, you know, it'll be a big snowball effect and it'll keep going. So, uh here, here's hope we get that thing going right away at the beginning of the game. And no matter who the quarterback is, Nick or Mitch, do they need this, like,

do the players just need that snowball right now? Do you feel that from a psychological point of view, well, I think I think we're all competitors, right, and I think we're also a human. So the human part of you says, guys, we just need to get to get it started, and once we do, then we'll all feel the momentum right, and then everything will be better. But you know, as a competitor, I think we just need all of us, coaches, players, everyone to say, We'll wait

a second, let me be the one. I'll be the one I'll make this thing happen. And whether it be with a play call, whether it be a you know, breaking down film during the week, whether it be how we practice if I'm a practice squad player, you know the look I give the other side. I just think, you know, as competitors, that that's attitude we've got to take. Let me be the one to get this thing turned and not wait for someone else to do it. All right,

quick glance at the packers up. What's Mike Petton doing right now these days with his crew? Yeah? I think you know, I think you got a defense that's that's very multiple. You know, he's gonna play a lot of defensive backs at times, even even when you have tight ends on the field. And so because of that, you're gonna get a lot of different looks. But he's got a number of players now who have been in this system for a while, so they can do those things

and be confident, be confident with it, you know. So I think you see a lot of confident play, and especially in the front, when you get a bunch of different looks, you get those defensive ends moving around in different spots and pressuring. Uh, you know, they're gonna they're going to try to put a lot of pressure on on your offensive line. So um, you know, I think a lot. So as you mentioned, like we talked about Cody, some of our guys have been around and seeing this

this front before, so that helps. But I think we've got a match, you know, both great preparation during the week with the physical intensity game day. You know, it's it's not a real complicated formula. It's just not always easy, right, Nope, nothing about the NFL is. Yeah, that's for certain. Some teams sometimes make it look easy, but that can change

in an instant, as we all know. Well, Bill, Happy Thanksgiving to you in your family and good luck with your preparation this week, and thanks as always for joining us. Same to you. Thank you. That's a wrap on tonight's Bears Coach You show. Want to thank our producers Jordan trut Up, Dan Billy, Andy Gersher and Lisa Fielding. Most of all for you for listening. Happy Thanksgiving, all for Bears head coach Matt Naggie and offensive coordinator Bill Lasier.

I'm Jeff JONNYAC wishing you a pleasant, good evening. This is News Radio seven eighty and one on five point OUTFM WBBM. Good night, everybody's