Chicago Bears 35, Jacksonville Jaguars 16
MATT EBERFLUS: Okay. Fall first of all I want to thank the fans. You know, the fans were great all week. We had a big group out there in the stadium. So my hat's off to them. Bears fans always travel well, and that was proven again today.
And then really thankful to the staff. You know, our logistics group, Kyle and Jay, and then security, Tarpy and Pete did a wonderful job all week, team men, our equipment, did a wonderful job, as well. Grounds crew, Ken Mrock, had our practice field all set; and our Performance team working with our players getting them ready to go, Salazar and Jimmy Arthur. And then Andre Tucker is our trainer, does a wonderful job as well.
But again, most of all, thankful to the players. They did a really good job of leadership. We were out there in the countryside a little bit, but it was good. It was more like a training camp feel for us. We're really big into building our relationships with each other in the springtime, in the summertime, and that paid off.
The guys did a really good job the whole week working the plans. The coordinators did a nice job of that as well, getting those plans implements so they did a nice job there.
In terms of the game evaluation, I thought was really good complementary football during the course of us taking the ball away on defense and scoring those 14 points off of those takeaways. A couple good two-minute drives there, really good two-minute drive there at the half for the offense, and then a four-minute at the end of the game to expire it, waste some time there, and do a good job with that.
The DBs that came in, we had some injuries. The DBs that came in, black well came in in the middle of the game for Kyler, and obviously Jaylon Jones did a nice job. Elijah Hicks did a nice job coming in there, and that's the partnership they have with their coaches. The coaches got them ready to go. We are always ready to go in terms of the depth part of it, and that's a good job of coaching those guys as well but really good job of playing.
A couple guys had really good games. Obviously Caleb had a nice game. Always look at the QBR, and that was good, in the 120s again. Really good solid work there by him in terms of distributing the ball to Cole.
Cole had some really nice catches, a couple touchdowns. First man in the history of football to get two touchdowns and snap it right afterward, maybe, I don't know.
But then Keenan made some really nice catches out there, some tight windows, and you know, I thought our D-Line really rushed well today. Got some really good pressures in there. Linebackers, those guys are always playing hot. So it's a good day by all of them.
Then working into the bye week, so we got the bye week here. Guys will come in. We'll evaluate this game. Get it all cleaned up and those guys need to do a good job of taking their of their minds, their bodies and their spirits to come back for our next rack of games we have leading into this schedule.
With that, I'll take questions.
Q. How important was it for Caleb and for you as a team for him to continue that progress that he's been making and that momentum that he's had?
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, it's always good, right. That's consistency. You make the progress and you want it to be linear but it's not always that way. But we feel that he took a step in the right direction, our football team took a step in the right direction of playing that complementary football, and him being able to distribute the football and operate.
We ran some no huddle and different things in there where he had to operate there at the line and did a nice job today.
Q. How about those third down plays, not going to be highlight plays, but kind of the gritty necessary plays to keep doing.
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, you need those to keep the drives alive. We helped expire the game with one of those slants. It's important that even third and fourth down, we are going to go for those things in the quad zone area. And you know, the play has the go to be good, which Shane dialed up some good plays today, and they have got to execute them. Overall it was good.
Q. You mentioned Caleb's continued progress. What is it you've seen from him that separates him from our quarterbacks that you've seen?
MATT EBERFLUS: Just his ability to learn and grow and want to get better. He knows that he's always working and improving and growing. He knows that it's going to be a big -- this year is a big year for him to be able to learn the game up here.
You know, he's always been good enough in terms of the talent and those things. But he's learning the game and learning our offense and learning our skill sets that we have.
Learning new things that they can do. You know, so our guys have wide skillsets. So we want to utilize those guys skillsets to be able to widen that so we can really expand our offense as we go through the year.
So he's going a good job with that.
Q. How is Kyler?
MATT EBERFLUS: So I'll go back to the injury report. We have Kyler Gordon is a hamstring. He ended up feeling a hamstring right there, one of those plays in the second half. Like I said, black well did a nice job coming in.
Then our long snapper, Scott Daly has got a knee. We'll see where that is, as well, as we get back to Halas Hall tomorrow.
Q. Kyler seemed like he was moving around okay. After the game. Is there an early impression that it's minor?
MATT EBERFLUS: We'll see. I'm hopeful that's what it is. I am. Kyler is a really good player for us. He plays the hot spot for us at nickel. We're hopeful.
Q. With Keenan, the production side, the role he played, the effect he had in the passing game, is that what you envisioned when you guys brought him?
MATT EBERFLUS: We've all seen it, right. He's had a long career and he's made a lot of plays. He's always open that guy, right. I've tried to double cover him in front, behind, sideways, doesn't work. He's always open. He's an exciting player.
Q. You mentioned the bond and there was a feel of a home game with the atmosphere and the noise. How much of an impact would you say that had on the team's performance?
MATT EBERFLUS: I think a big impact, it always is. I know this waned considered a home-home game but I'm we've won nine straight at home. It's always a big impact. Our fans at home in Chicago do a great job of that and are loud and always into the game and impact. It's very difficult for the other team.
Q. Brian Thomas has impressive stats in his rookie career, three catches today. How do you manage to neutralize him so effectively?
MATT EBERFLUS: He's a heck of a player, he really. Is I watched a lot of tape on him during the Draft process and he's good. He's fast. He can get the deep ball, and he's going to have an outstanding career, you know, for himself and for the Jags.
He's exciting to watch, and you know, in terms of the three catches, you know, that's NFL ball, right. That's the way it goes sometimes.
Q. Is there a difference between Blackwell coming in and Cole coming in in a pinch? From your perspective, is that a little bit of a difference?
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, Cole, we practice that every Thursday. He gets the short snaps and long snaps every Thursday. It's part of our routine that we have because he is the backup. So he does a good job with those guys.
A couple snaps were high but you know, he did a good job.
Q. How big of an impact was D'Andre Swift?
MATT EBERFLUS: Very big. Very big. The big thing about Swift is get him out in space because then he can be electric. I was really pleased how he ran the ball today. I think it was in the fives, and I think their run average was in the low fours, I believe, so.
It was good in both regards in terms of the average. But you need some explosives, and you have to limit those on defense, and I thought we did that on both sides of the ball today. Again, that's the perimeter blocking, the line, finishing, everything that they do and playing the way we play.
Q. The interception that Caleb threw could have been pivotal in the game. What did it do for you guys that your defense came out there and got a three-and-out right away? How does that speak to the blueprint that you and Ryan had in place for the quarterback?
MATT EBERFLUS: We understand that that might happen on occasion. That was a shot that we took. That should be our ball or no one's. But they ended up coming up and made a nice play on it, and our defense responded. I always talk to the guys about responding.
Complementary football is helping the other person out. So when something happens, good or bad, you take advantage of the great opportunity and make it even better, or when something happens that was unforeseen, then they rise up to the occasion and help the other person out, the group out, and that's what complementary football is.
Q. You guys have three wins in a row; you're 4-2; your quarterback is playing well. How do you feel right now about the direction the Bears are going?
MATT EBERFLUS: I think we are in a good spot, I really do. I think we have got a lot of improvement to do. But for the first six games, I think we are in a good spot, and we have to get our minds and our bodies and everything right to go on to these next six games starting with the first one.
Q. Hicks had a big day. How important is it to have a character like that?
MATT EBERFLUS: It's great. It's great. You have a guy that's in a backup roll that's working his butt off on special teams and then he gets his opportunity, and you see him perform like that -- even Blackwell, Jaylon Jones, all those guys, it's always good to see that because they are working at it just like everybody else. When they get that opportunity and they seize that opportunity and play well, it's always fun to see.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports