LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy challenged the team to “wake up” and “have some personal pride” in the wake of Sunday’s disastrous 41-25 prime-time loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“I know this: We better wake our tails up,” Nagy said on a Monday Zoom call. “Every freaking coach on the staff, every player, better wake up and start understanding where we’re at. Have some personal pride. Have a freaking sense of urgency. Know where we’re at. Have some pride into who we’re playing for and why we do this and then go find a way to win as a team. That’s my challenge to every single person in that building this week is that.
“Yesterday was flat-out embarrassing and our guys know it. I’m not telling you something they don’t know. They know it. But we’re going to step up and all coaches, all players, and we’ve got five games left. For us, it’s our own personal challenge as to where we’re at and how we’re going to do this thing. But that performance yesterday is ridiculous and can’t happen and obviously that starts with me.”
The Bears, losers of five straight, suffered through their worst defensive game of the year. The usually reliable Chicago defense failed to register a single sack or quarterback hit versus Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who finished the night 21-of-29 for 211 yards and four touchdowns (132.3 passer rating). At one point in the second quarter, Green Bay’s offense had already picked up 15 first downs and gone 5-for-5 on third-down conversions.
“That’s not who our defense is,” Nagy said. “And our guys, they need to understand where we’re coming from with that and how we feed off of them as a defense. They’ve done a hell of a job all year long but yesterday was not where we need to be.”
Chicago’s offense fared no better.
Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who returned to the starting lineup in place of injured Nick Foles (hip), committed three costly turnovers, including a lost fumble that Green Bay scooped up and returned for a touchdown.
Trubisky went 26-of-46 for 242 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, with most of the numbers coming in garbage time.
Nagy hinted that Trubisky is likely to start again Sunday when the Bears host the Detroit Lions (4-7), but it hardly sounded like a ringing endorsement of the second pick of the 2017 draft.
“I don’t see why not,” Nagy said.