Chicago Bears coach Thomas Brown and players met with reporters Monday morning as they try to make a quick turnaround from Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The Bears have just three days to recover and prepare for their “Thursday Night Football” game against the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field.
Here are three things we learned from Halas Hall.
1. Left tackle Braxton Jones will have surgery on his broken left ankle.
Brown confirmed that Jones was headed for surgery on what the Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported Monday morning was a fractured fibula.
Jones’ left leg bent awkwardly while pass protecting for quarterback Caleb Williams in the second quarter against the Lions, and Bears staff put an air cast on his leg before carting him off the field.
Jones is out for the remainder of the season — he was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon — and will face a monthslong recovery ahead of his fourth season with the Bears. After starting 11 games last season while dealing with a neck injury, he played in 12 this year, missing two with a knee injury and one with a concussion.
Offensive tackle Larry Borom replaced Jones against the Lions. Brown said Borom was active for the game over rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie because Borom has the flexibility to play on the right or left side. He said versatility is important at this juncture with so many injured players on the line.
“We’ll see how the week goes and we’ll give all guys an opportunity to go compete,” Brown said when asked about Jones’ replacement.
Left guard Teven Jenkins also left the game with a calf injury, though Brown said he has a “possible shot” to play Thursday.
Williams said he thought Borom and left guard Jake Curhan did a “solid job” filling in but also said “it sucks” to have Jones and Jenkins go down because of the feel he has for how they play.
“You do build a connection and you figure out what your linemen block like, so you kind of figure out where you can be in the pocket,” Williams said. “You figure out all those different things, of what they’re good at and maybe what they’re not so good at. Being able to maneuver in the pocket, you play so many snaps and downs together that you figure out through time and through feel.”
2. Brown said “poor eyes” and “playing flat-footed” were two of the errors on the Lions’ long touchdown Sunday.
The Lions went ahead 20-0 in the second quarter when wide receiver Jameson Williams sped by cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and safety Jonathan Owens and caught Jared Goff’s 82-yard touchdown pass in stride.
Brown said defenders’ eyes were in the wrong spot on the play and said Owens was playing flat-footed. He called it “inexcusable.”
“Again, super-fast receiver, but we’ve got to put a roof on the top shelf of the coverage,” Brown said.
Stevenson said there were a couple of things he could have done better.
“I probably could have just stayed on top of it and gave our safety a little bit head’s up notice that it was coming,” Stevenson said. “Definitely had some of the bad eyes in bad places. But definitely should have let the safety know it was coming.”
Williams’ touchdown and the Lions’ trick play were two of Sunday’s most buzz-worthy moments. Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs faked a fumble to distract Bears defenders in the third quarter before Goff threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta.
Stevenson said that while the touchdown obviously bothered him he can also acknowledge that it was “a great play” after rewatching it.
“It’s a play on us that scored, but shout out to them for putting the time and effort and the dedication to creating something like that or taking something like that and executing it in the game,” Stevenson said. “They scored on us. That doesn’t sit well with me. But they executed a great play.”
Stevenson said he would have preferred the extra couple of days this week to reset from a rough outing by the defense, in which it allowed 37 points and 475 yards. But the Bears were already back to walk-through practices Monday.
“Definitely I would have that day to go over some of the things you need to do better, refresh your mind, let it go but not let it go fully,” Stevenson said. “I definitely would appreciate that day, but it’s onto the next.”
3. Wide receiver Rome Odunze said he is not really feeling the difference in a grind between a college season and his first NFL season.
Odunze, the No. 9 pick out of Washington, has two games left in his rookie season. But he said so far this year hasn’t felt that different than college, with the same toll taken on his body.
“People say it’s a long year, but I’m embracing it and just doing everything I can in my power to be consistent throughout the season and continue to develop and continue to grow,” he said. “Just focusing on those things and finishing the season strong.”
Odunze had four catches for 77 yards Sunday to bring his total to 51 catches for 701 yards and three touchdowns. He had a third-down conversion catch and two catches for fourth-down conversions.
But he also had a couple of learning experiences as a part of two first-quarter fumbles. Odunze said he will work to clean up the issues that led to him dropping the ball on “the No. 1 rule in football” — not to turn the ball over.
Williams, who was part of the first fumble on a botched handoff with Odunze, also said he needed to be better.
“Obviously we have to find a way to secure that ball, whether it’s between myself or Rome,” he said. “But I will say that I could have given a better slot for the ball, putting it where it needs to be. I think it was a little bit too much on his hip.”
