In theory, the fractured NFL offseason figures to benefit established teams that have winning systems in place — with the Chiefs, Saints and Ravens at the top of the list.
The Bears? They’re way down that list coming off a disappointing 8-8 season, but still one of the league’s more intriguing teams. Their top-10 defense is in place and aiming to regain its 2018 prowess with a healthy Akiem Hicks, an improving Roquan Smith and edge rusher Robert Quinn in place of Leonard Floyd. But their offense is a mess — with a quarterback battle looming, two newcomers at the key tight end position and four new offensive coaches, including line coach Juan Castillo.
The Bears’ defense figures to hit the ground running whenever training camp starts. But the offense is at the opposite end of the spectrum — in dire need of on-the-field training and reps, reps and more reps.
Overall, the Bears just need to be out there, playing football. They’re making the most of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, with players “locked in” during virtual meetings via Zoom, according to coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace — and Hall of Fame guest speakers to break the monotony and provide motivation from people who have been there.
But Pace, appearing on a podcast Friday with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, acknowledged that despite the benefit of that alternative process, he feels the anxiety to be on the field.
“It’s just been a process to get to this point right now,” Pace said. “That’s the one hard part about not all being together right now. I think our team’s in a good state of mind. Everybody’s a little pissed off. Everybody has a chip on their shoulder. And I would love to be carrying that momentum through the OTAs and mini-camps.
“Unfortunately we don’t have that. We’re going to have to pick that up in training camp, whenever it starts, because I do feel like our team is in the right mind-set right now.”
This is new territory for Pace as a general manager, but he’s not unfamiliar with unorthodox circumstances. He was a scout with the Saints in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and forced the Saints to re-locate to San Antonio and play their home games at LSU and the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Though it was a miserable season for the Saints, it also coincided with a monumental shift in the team’s fortunes. General manager Mickey Loomis fired coach Jim Haslett after a 3-13 season — extenuating circumstances be damed — hired Sean Payton, signed quarterback Drew Brees and the rest is history. The Saints won the Super Bowl in 2009 and have been to the playoffs in eight of Payton’s 13 seasons — a record of success that Pace parlayed into the Bears’ GM job. And here we are.
“What happened in New Orleans during Katrina … really every time a hurricane came towards that city, we quickly adapted,” Pace said. “What I felt from leadership there, with Sean and Mickey is there was never an excuse. Let’s adapt and let’s adjust and that’s what we did.”
Without mentioning the quarterback situation specifically, Pace seemed to re-iterate his contention that his emotional and draft-capital investment in Mitch Trubisky will not impact the decision on the winner of the quarterback competition with Nick Foles.
“We used to always say, when you’re making the hard decisions, [it’s about doing] what’s best for the organization and not letting your ego get in the way because this was your idea or you selected this player,” Pace said when asked about moving on from personnel errors. “And sometimes those are hard decisions when you have to remove emotions. For me, to be honest, I thin that cones pretty natural. It’s probably because of my experience in New Orleans.”
Pace said he was happy with Trubisky’s response to the Bears’ decision to decline the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
“Once he digested it, you could kind of see him clench his jaw and embrace it — “Hey, let’s go.’” Pace said. “I think it’s going to be fun to see this play out. Mitch and Nick have been awesome in those [virtual] meetings — completely engaged.
“The competition can’t really started until we start rolling in training camp. But you really like the mindset of both players. They both come in with a lot of knowledge of the offense. So they kind of have a leg up in the times that we’re dealing with right now, which has been good. But I love the way they’ve both embraced it. It’s been very healthy.”
