In the days after the Bears season ended with a gut-wrenching loss to the Eagles, Matt Nagy found himself stewing, his competitive tenacity still gnawing away and reminding him that a dozen regular-season wins and an NFC North title meant only so much.
Nagy badly wanted his team to march deeper into the playoffs, making a run at their grandest goal. Instead, the Bears were abruptly separating for the offseason, cleaning out the locker room and left to chew on the reality that the franchise's first playoff win since January 2011 would have to wait at least another year.
Still, if there was one thing that consistently reassured the Bears' 40-year-old coach, it was the demeanor and drive of his players. In individual exit interviews and in group conversations, Nagy kept feeling a similar vibe and hearing consistent messages.
If only the Bears had been able to slip past the Eagles ...
"(It was) their response to me of saying, 'We were going to win the Super Bowl,' " Nagy said. "They believed that. They really did. But now they also realize it's not easy."
The ambitious energy Nagy felt was stronger than he imagined it would be.
"I wasn't sure, after a loss like that, how they were going to handle it," Nagy said. "Because they are young. So are they upset and deflated and disappointed? Yeah, they are. But they were actually more positive and more (eager) to get back (to Halas Hall), which fired me up.
"In that game, with the way we lost, there's a natural reaction to almost feel sorry for yourselves as players and coaches, that, 'Man, we were so close.' But no, (it was), 'We're going to use this now as a motivation.' That's what's fun to me, knowing we have guys on this team who truly care."
The mentality Nagy is hoping to cultivate may have been best expressed by receiver Allen Robinson less than an hour after that playoff loss at Soldier Field.
"Coming back next year, it's going to be twice as hard, I can tell you that much," Robinson said. "As a player who has played in this league and has seen what it takes to have success, you understand that the better you play, the better you have to play. I know that for a fact. Next year, that means we're going to have to be twice as good at OTAs as we were this year, twice as good at (training) camp, twice as good during the regular season."
