TITANS vs BEARS
Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020
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Q. You've talked for weeks now about how you keep working at this in practice, keep working at it and it'll get better. At what point do you wonder whether it's time to change something after putting together weeks where the offense doesn't seem to be showing improvement?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, honestly that's what we've been working towards. Once again, if I had that answer, we probably wouldn't be here. I mean, the only thing I can say is we have to continue to keep working. I don't know what y'all expect me to say, but other than I believe that we have to keep working at it and keep grinding and keep figuring out what we want to do and how we want to do it, and that's the only way to be because, quite frankly, we're the ones in it. We're the ones that are playing for the Chicago Bears, coaching for the Chicago Bears, so it's our responsibility to continue to work through this adversity and figure out what it's going to take to complete our team and our situation. We have the right people to do it, we just have to keep grinding, keep doing it and staying positive throughout it. We have the right people.
Q. What is it like in the middle of it when it seems to just keep getting worse?
NICK FOLES: You know, it's one of those things where you just keep going, you keep -- you get the play call, you execute the play call and you just keep going. Keeping the guys settled in the huddle, the guys were great, just continuing, hey, one play at a time, keep going, keep going, don't stop playing until the clock hits zero. Today obviously we fell short. Another tough game, but the guys kept playing until the clock hit zero. Not an easy one, but there's something that you can build on there because when you don't quit and you keep going and keep grinding, especially through games like that that are difficult, it tells you a lot about your locker room.
Q. Without being able to watch the film, totally makeshift offensive line, looked like you were under pressure some there, but how did you feel, a group that's just kind of thrown together did for you today?
NICK FOLES: You know what, they played as hard as they could and they gave me everything they had, and that's all I can ever ask of them. You go out there, you play together as an offense and you give it everything you have until the end, and they did that, so I'm proud of them for that.
Q. I know we've talked to you before about your guys' third quarter struggles this season, but how frustrating were the first two drives of the third today when you guys got some positive plays, got into Titans' territory and then mistakes kind of killed the drives?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, I mean, that keeps coming up and we just have to fix that. I don't know what that is. That's something we've got to look at when we study the film and talk through it. To win in this league you've got to eliminate those self-inflicted wounds, especially when you can march down there. Once again, something else to continue to look at.
Q. Specifically when you have a pair of fourth-and-ones go haywire, what's your reaction, because those aren't new occurrences, either?
NICK FOLES: Same thing. I mean, obviously you don't want it to happen, but the game goes on. It's not like all of a sudden, oh, it's fourth and one, it's happened again, let's just stop playing. No, you keep playing, you keep staying positive on the sideline, you keep going, keep talking through it. That's what this game is. As much as we would love to win every Sunday and have it like -- there's a lot of teams that don't do that, and right now we're in a situation where we're figuring out who we are and who we want to be, and it can be difficult, but I'll tell you this: The guys in the locker room after the game, their mindsets are about the team, about each other, about continuing to work for one another. Even with a hard loss and a couple, three in a row, we continue to stay positive, and that is something we can continue to build on. We keep working, we keep grinding, we keep staying positive.
Q. You talked about those self-inflicted mistakes. Where does the fix for that have to come from? Does it have to be a couple guys on the offense challenging everyone to stop making those mistakes? Does it have to come from coaching? In your experience where do those fixes come from?
NICK FOLES: You know what, that's something where we've got to look at the film and just talk, coaches and players, and figure it out. I don't have that answer for you. But I will say when we clean that up, it'll really help us in those situations because we'll be able to keep the chains moving and have another set of downs. That will be a big emphasis for us.
Q. No one is going to question the fact that you guys are trying to get this thing fixed, but how do you describe the urgency level to figure it out just at this point in the season being where you are in the standings?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, I mean, it's always been the same, extremely urgent. You don't want to go through the season just hoping you figure it out. We've continued to figure it out week by week by week, and we've made little changes and we've worked through different things, and we've done some good things at times, we just haven't put that complete game together. But the urgency has always been there, and we don't just wait until the end of the season to figure it out. We're working through it every single week and we're continuing to stay positive and working with one another. I'll sound like a broken record, but that's the only way I believe is staying positive, keeping a tight ship and working through this together, because listen, it's not easy. Anything worthwhile is very difficult, and it takes the right people to get it done. We believe we have the right people, we just have to keep working and keep grinding and put it together, and then I'll look forward to that conversation with y'all when we do.
Q. The first drive looked like you guys were moving the ball pretty well. What did you like about that script and kind of the preparation for it, and then what does it do to you kind of mentality-wise when all that progress just kind of stops there at fourth and one?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, I mean, we were able to show different personnel, show different looks, get a couple different movement plays out there and execute well. We had the big one to Jimmy (Graham) on the left sideline, he made a great play catching the ball, going up. Fourth and one, we've got to get those.
Q. What do you think about having traveled here with a teammate who tested positive and now all of you guys traveling home together today?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, I mean, the NFL is doing everything they can to keep us safe, so I honestly -- I trust our protocols. I trust our staff here to do everything the right way. This year as you all have witnessed, every single person has been effected this year by what's going on in the world, but it goes back to, you know what, the NFL and our team -- our team specifically, too, has gone above and beyond, doing everything they can to keep everybody safe. So I trust them in these situations.
Q. You had a red zone opportunity to (Allen Robinson II) on a little shovel pass that kind of got blown up. What was your vantage point of not being able to get that cleanly executed there?
NICK FOLES: Yeah, they did a nice job of blowing back into it and sort of jamming up the play. It would have been a sweet touchdown for A-Rob and then I was just doing what I could to get the yardage back. It was unfortunate, we'll watch the film, see how we can execute it better in the future.
