Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy spoke to the media Thursday at Halas Hall. Here are five things we learned from that session:
(1) Getsy feels that the offense's subpar performance in last Sunday's season-opening loss to the Packers resulted from not getting the details right.
The unit failed to score a touchdown on its first seven drives, committed two turnovers in the game, drew five penalties and permitted four sacks.
"Felt like we left a lot out there," Getsy said. "Obviously, when you don't win, things will get criticized more. But we always look at it under the microscope and make sure that we're coaching every single person to the best of our abilities and getting the details right. Our details were not good enough, and that is kind of the underlying fact that showed up."
False starts, holding penalties and sacks stalled drives throughout the game.
"The negative plays are what really crushed us: our momentum, our drives," Getsy said. "I think when we had four drives that started off past the 30, I think we scored on all four of them. The ones that were behind the 30, even if we got started, we stumbled, usually it was a negative play."
The Bears' four possessions that began at their own 31 or better resulted in two field goals and two touchdowns; the eight drives that started at their own 30 or worse culminated in four punts, two turnovers, a turnover on downs and the end of the game.
(2) Getsy understands why quarterback Justin Fields said Wednesday that he was "a little bit too conservative at times" in Sunday's loss.
In completing 24 of 37 passes for 216 yards with one touchdown and one interception, Fields threw only five passes that traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. One of those was a perfectly thrown 20-yard touchdown to Darnell Mooney in the right corner of the end zone.
"I think for him to say that, I am assuming he is just talking about there were a couple opportunities where we're down enough to take a chance even if it ends up being a 1-on-1, 50-50-type of ball," Getsy said. "That's part of that getting to know each other, chemistry, trusting one another and all of that stuff.
"He will continue to get better. I thought he played under control, composed and all that stuff. I thought there was a lot of really good things. The touchdown pass, he's changing the protection to make sure we pick up the pressure and then makes a great throw."
The Bears were back on the practice fields at Halas Hall Wednesday afternoon to continue their preparation for Sunday's Week 2 road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(3) Getsy was disappointed that No. 1 receiver DJ Moore was targeted only twice in the game.
Moore had receptions of 11 and 14 yards on back-to-back plays on a second-quarter drive that resulted in a field goal. But those were the only passes thrown his way.
"It was definitely a disappointment," Getsy said. "There's a lot of reasons why things happen. Protection could have broken down for a particular play for him. Justin just maybe didn't see something in a particular way. There's a lot of things that go into it.
"We definitely are calling plays for DJ, and he knows that, and he wasn't frustrated by any of that. Sometimes it's just the way the coverage dictates where the quarterback has to go with the football too."
(4) Getsy wasn't surprised that the Packers were able to generate pressure on Fields but was pleased with how he responded.
"That's as good of a front as there is in the league," Getsy said. "How many first-rounders show up in the front seven? That's what they do, and they do a really good job of moving guys around. We knew that was going to be a challenge, part of the game. Justin, actually, I thought he handled it as good as he has since I've been here staying composed.
"Can we get better up front in certain 1-on-1 opportunities? For sure. But that's going to come with keep playing. We've got to get experience playing next to each other, chemistry, passing off stunts and all that good stuff."
(5) Getsy believes that Chase Claypool's failure to make a couple blocks on receiver screens were due to a lack of execution, not lack of effort.
"I think Chase is motivated," Getsy said. "I think he wants to do it. He had a couple plays where he didn't execute it and that hurt us. He knows that. But Chase wants to do it. I don't think it's a matter of him wanting."
