ChicagoBears.com takes you inside the locker room with quotes from Bears players following Thursday's win against the Dolphins at Soldier Field.
Jimmy Clausen, QB
On developing a confidence while learning a new offense:
"It's tough. The offenses are pretty similar all around the league; it's just different terminology. The coaches do a great job of helping us prepare. Jay (Cutler) has helped me out a lot, as well as David (Fales) and Shane (Carden) - just coming together and trying to learn it together because we're all learning it for the first time. It's been a hard time at different times, learning it, but I think we're starting to get the hang of it and starting to roll with it."
*On the running game: *
"It was big. All the running backs did great tonight. Obviously, I can't say too much about it since I haven't watched the tape yet, but I thought they did a great job, as well as the offensive line up front, opening holes for those guys up front."
*On the receivers he got to work with tonight: *
"All the receivers looked good tonight. I was just trying to spread the ball around to different guys. In this offense, anybody can get the ball at any time, and I thought they did a great job of making plays when plays were there."
Jermon Bushrod, T
On his back:
"I think they were managing it well. I really do. I appreciate the effort that the training staff and coaches put in because if it was up to me, I would like to go every day. To me, that's just how I've always been. It's about long term, and I have to understand that. They're keeping me to the plan, and it's a good plan. We're just going to keep taking this thing week-by-week and find a way to get better."
*On being able to take something away from a first preseason game: *
"Well, we have to start by looking at the film and seeing where we have to work, especially that first drive. That's definitely not how we wanted to start off our preseason. But, we were able to get up there and speed the tempo up with that second drive. We had some success moving the ball. I think it was more that we killed ourselves than them stopping us. I just think that we get back to the drawing board and fight to be more consistent, fight to be faster, and as the game went on, we got better."
Sherrick McManis, CB
*On his determination to get more playing time on defense: *
"I'm very determined. I'm determined like this every year, honestly. Just to be out there trying to compete, do my special teams thing, and also to show them that I can play corner, or that I can play nickel- just to help the team in any way that I can It's about getting opportunities and capitalizing on those opportunities. Making plays. Just competing. Just trying to get better."
Jared Allen, LB
On the new position:
"You just have to trust the defense. You've got to trust the keys that you've got and go and make plays. Football is about process - how fast can you process the information so that you can go and apply the football knowledge and football talent to it. So, that's what it comes down to. We'll just keep working on that process. The faster that you can recognize things, the more that you can anticipate. For me, I work on pass rushing stuff because it's a different angle. I was trying to get my pad level down. It's just slightly different tihngs that this whole process through training camp is. It's cool for me this year because preseason has a purpose and a function - not that it didn't before - because it's really a time where I can hone a new craft. It's like my younger days, where you're really trying to use it to polish and understand. It's always good to have stuff on tape so that you can communicate with the guys. So, as soon as everyone's on the same page, it clicks, and you'll see much better performances."