September 30th, 2018 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
Bears Coach Matt Nagy Says Team Needs to Do a Better Job at Finishing Games After Loss to Packers
After Sunday’s patience-testing 24-23 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field, Bears coach Matt Nagy returned to Halas Hall on Monday morning to review his team’s performance. Nagy says the Bears have to develop a finish mentality, Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune reports.
“So we’ve got to really have that finish mentality,” Nagy said. “We can’t talk about it. We’ve got to do it, everybody included. I think our guys need to understand that close isn’t good enough, which they will. They know that and they understand it’s a long season. Nobody wanted this game more than we did. It definitely hurts, like I said last night. It stings. But we need to use this. We need to go ahead and use this to get better. If you have the negative pessimistic approach to it then that’s all wrong. We’re not going to have that.”
“Being in a game like that on a Sunday night and against a big rival, I like the way our team went about the whole week of practice,” Nagy added. “I thought they came out and played well in the game. We didn’t finish it. So I’m about to learn where we’re at as a staff, where I’m at as a coach and where they’re at as players. That’s the most challenging part and that’s why they bring me in here — for these type of situations. It is not going to be rosy the whole time. It’s not. We’re not going to lose our confidence at all, I promise you, from this game. We’re going to learn from it, stick together. It’s going to make us stronger and hopefully we’re all sitting here at the end of the season and we can look back and reflect and say, ‘This helped us more than it hurt us.’”
Bears QB Mitch Trubisky Getting No Love in Recent QB Rankings
ChicagoTribune
The Bears got to see some of rookie Mitch Trubisky last season as he took the reigns over the last couple of games for the Bears, showing them a glimpse of their future.
Website Newarena.com is ranking all 32 starting QB’s around the NFL, and Trubisky isn’t getting much love, as he’s ranked 30th of 32 QB’s in their latest poll.
Here’s what they said about the Bears QB entering 2018.
2017 stats: 196-for-330 (59.4%), 2,193 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 41 carries, 248 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
The Jay Cutler era officially ended in 2016, and the Mike Glennon era didn’t last for much of 2017. Trubisky has fully taken the reins, leading Chicago to a 4-8 record in the 12 games he started in Year 1. Chicago’s ridiculously conservative run-first (and run always) offense has many wondering if Trubisky will ever develop into an above-average passer at the NFL level. It’s still way too early to draw any conclusions, as Bears fans are hoping new head coach Matt Nagy can have a similar effect that Sean McVay had on Jared Goff.
Video: Watch Brian Urlacher’s Hall of Fame Speech as He Joins the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018
In Brian Urlacher’s speech at the 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony, the former Bears linebacker expresses high praise for his mother and credits her for his work ethic.
Urlacher also thanks his former teammates and describes how playing linebacker for the Bears was a desired spot.
Preview: What to Expect From the Bears QB Spot in Tonight’s Hall of Fame Game
Tonight it all begins again, as the Hall of Fame Game takes place in Canton, Ohio – with the Bears taking the field against the Baltimore Ravens.
Here’s Peter King of NBC to break down the game and talk about what to expect from the quarterbacks from each team.
Getting ready to watch the @ChicagoBears and @Ravens tonight?
Let @peter_king get you up to speed with both team's quarterback situations going into this season. ?? pic.twitter.com/2WWNqGhJqB
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) August 2, 2018
Bears GM Ryan Pace Not Talking About Contract Standoff With Rookie Roquan Smith
Bears rookie linebacker Roquan Smith is still absent from training camp as he is now the lone draft choice unsigned.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace broke his silence on the matter Monday, Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune reports.
In his first public interview since reporting day at Olivet Nazarene University on July 19, Pace skillfully steered around a series of questions on how the Bears are handling Smith’s contract negotiations.
“That’s obviously a big topic right now,” the GM said during a guest appearance on WMVP-AM 1000. “And for us, these are important and critical reps that are going on right now. But to get into the nitty gritty details isn’t something we feel we should do publicly. That’s behind the scenes. We have a lot of respect for him obviously and a lot of respect for his agents. And it’s a matter of just working through that.”
Pace has not been made available to reporters at Bears camp since the team started practicing a week-and-a-half ago. Monday’s radio cameo provided the GM an opportunity to share the team’s side of the Smith saga. But Pace offered little insight into how long Smith’s holdout might last or how the Bears will ultimately find a resolution to this situation.
“The good thing is we have strong relationships with these agents,” Pace said. “There are a number of guys on our team (who use) the same agency. We’ve dealt with them on a number of deals. It’s just working through those things. But to talk about anything related to contracts publicly is just not healthy. It’s not productive. But you can bet it’s important to us. It’s important to Roquan and we’re working on it.”
Pace said he appreciates the league’s intent to improve player safety by implementing the new rule to discourage players from lowering their helmet to initiate contact. Still, there seems to be anxiety amongst executives, coaches, players and agents leaguewide in regards to how consistently and frequently the new rules will be enforced with 15-yard penalties and possible ejections and suspensions.
“We’re all working through that,” Pace said. “This is a little bit new for all of us.”
New Bears TE Trey Burton Says There’s Similarities Between Champion Eagles and the 2018 Bears
Tight end Trey Burton won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last year, a season after Philly ended up in the cellar of the NFC East.
This offseason, Burton signed with the new-look Chicago Bears. The 26-year-old told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday he sees a lot of similarities between his former team and his new one, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.
“We were picked to finish last place in the division last year in Philly,” Burton said. “There are a ton of similarities. You look at Philly two years ago, the majority of our games were lost by less than a touchdown. If you look at Chicago last year, there’s a good amount of those games that they lost. It’s just about getting over that hump. You have to be able to win close games. There’s so many small details that happen in order for you to lose those games.”
The offseason changes in Chicago made the Bears an enticing landing spot for Burton. The tight end mentioned the offensive-minded new coach Matt Nagy, the importing of talented pass-catchers in Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and rookie Anthony Miller, and second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as reasons he signed in Chicago.
“Nagy is definitely one of the top reasons why,” Burton said.”A young quarterback who can play at a high level is definitely something I looked at…Also the offense, too. It’s completely the same as what we were doing in Philadelphia. A lot of similar terminology and if you don’t have to learn a whole new offense, that’s a game-changer for you.”
Added Burton: “Nagy obviously knows what it takes to win at a high level, [the Chiefs] were in the playoffs last year. There’s tons of talent on the roster from last year, guys like Tarik Cohen. I played with Darren Sproles for four years and I would never compare any player to Sproles, I would never disrespect, but Cohen is right up there with his abilities with how shifty he is and how fast he is and those guys are extremely smart as well. Obviously there’s Jordan Howard, too. I could go down the list of names of really good players in Chicago. We added a couple guys. Your second year in the league from year one to year two is the biggest difference, so Mitch is going on year two. I know I experienced that myself, so I’m just really excited to see when the live balls are flying just to see how him and those guys react.”
Video: Will Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky Find Success in a New Offense in 2018?
ChicagoTribune
On CBS Sports HQ, senior NFL writer Will Brinson joins Casey Keirnan to break down whether Mitchell Trubisky can find success in the Bears’ offense.
