Interpreting the Bears' 'coach speak' after beating Lions
For the third time this season, but the first following a victory, the Bears assistant coaches met the media Monday.
Here's a look at some of the more interesting take-aways, followed by our interpretations - because coach speak is real, even coming off a win.
QB coach Dave Ragone on Mitch Trubisky's big-time throws Sunday, when Trubisky threw 3 touchdowns and logged a 131.0 passer rating, the third highest of his career:
"What I saw is great anticipation," he said of Trubisky's third TD toss, a 24-yard corner route to Taylor Gabriel. "That's another one when you watch on the coaches' copy, he had just come out of the break. It wasn't like he was wide. ... And right there, you start to couple a couple of throws together and look at 'em - the Braunecker and the Allen Robinson. Those three throws to me are three throws - especially since I've been here, obviously the whole time with him - those are some of the better throws, especially the Robinson throw, I've seen since I've been with him."
Our interpretation:
Those throws provided an important reminder of Trubisky's ceiling, and coming from Ragone - who has seen, up close, every one of Trubisky's 663 attempts - it's notable that he'd lump three from Sunday in the total ledger in Year 3. More importantly, of course, over the final seven games we'll be seeing fewer reminders of Trubisky's floor.
OLB coach Ted Monachino on Khalil Mack's quiet spell spanning the previous five games, when his star pupil has managed only 1 sack and zero forced fumbles:
"It takes time. You keep grinding away at it. Eventually you finish a play. Maybe you work your way through a double team and finish a play and then your confidence raises a little bit. And then maybe you finish another one the same week or the next week. ... I don't think this is a slump. I think this is a situation where … I know that if I got locked in a room, I'd have a hard time getting out of it. And that's a hard thing for him right now."
Our interpretation:
We know confidence is an issue for Trubisky, not Mack, making this quote fascinating. Does Mack need to experience a bit of success himself right now? It seems unlikely but it's his position coach's words, not ours. His pressure rate of 3.4 per game is in line with last season, per Pro Football Reference. Still, we don't have a way of quantifying how frequently he's being double- or triple-teamed, nor can we say exactly how often he's being held.
WR coach Mike Furrey on how his group avoids getting frustrated by inconsistent quarterbacking and overall production on offense:
"I've never seen quarterbacks go 100 percent completion percentage in a game - they're going to miss throws. The question is, like [Sunday], Turbo hit the deep cross on the deep over, big third-down play early in the game, dropped the ball. That's not Mitch's fault; that's our fault. But listen, you're about to come back, you're about run this route again on third down and you're going to score a touchdown. So that's the mindset that you have to have - especially playing wideout. You have to have as short of a memory as DBs do when they get beat when you're not getting the football. You better get lined back up because if you're sitting there pouting, 'I'm not getting the football,' and that football comes to you, you're not being the player we want you to be. So I think they're all doing a really good job of that right now."
Our interpretation:
Chicago's pass-catching corps is among the league leaders in drops, so credit Furrey for deflecting from Trubisky to his group and citing a specific example of Taylor Gabriel's bad miss Sunday - but also how they went back to him and he flourished. As Matt Nagy, his staff and players continue preaching the importance of not letting negative plays snowball, this point rings especially true. We expect to have more on this subject this week and specifically the dynamic between Allen Robinson and Mitch Trubisky.
DL coach Jay Rodgers on the daily presence of Akiem Hicks despite his best player being on IR:
"Well, Akiem is out there. He's on the sidelines. He's celebrating with the guys. He's telling the guys, 'hey, this is what happened.' He checks the screens just as much as I do. He's coaching those guys as much as I am out there. He brings the energy to meeting rooms, out there on the field. He's just not out there between the lines - that's the only thing he's not. But the contributions that he's giving right now [have] been tremendous."
Our interpretation:
Remember, Hicks has never dealt with a long-term injury before this one, so it's encouraging to hear that he's attempting to make it as constructive an experience as possible. His continued daily presence also might soon loom even larger with the unit's other vocal leader Danny Trevathan likely to soon join him on IR. We can't imagine the Bears risking activating Hicks off IR in Week 15 if they're not still playing for something, but it sounds like his passion hasn't wavered. It also sounds like coaching could be in his future.