If Thomas Brown has been rehearsing his pregame speech, he’s not letting on.
“I’m gonna wing it — just get up there and let it go,” he said.
The Bears’ interim head coach broke out a broad smile. Clearly, he’s not going to wing it before his first game Sunday against the 49ers.
“I believe in preparation, for sure,” he said Friday. “It has been a slow build throughout the week. I do have some talking points, but I don’t believe in wasting words. Also, when guys are in the right spot in the moment, less is more. I that, as the week goes on, I talk less and the players talk more.
“When it comes down to it, I’ll have a few things to say to the guys. I’m looking forward to this game. I’m excited about it.”
Here are three things the Bears need to do to win:
The 49ers are down to their third running back, Isaac Guerendo, because of injuries to Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason. That won’t stop them from doing what they do best.
“When they are at their best, they're averaging 30 rushing attempts per game,” Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “They complement that with the play-action and boot[leg]. They utilize screens to slow down your rush.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has a 99.2 passer rating in three games with Brown calling plays. He needs to continue that ascent over the next five games.
“He is going through these for the first time,” said new coordinator Chris Beatty, who won’t call plays. “It’s our job to make it easier for him. We’re going to try to do better at that. Be better at communicating all those things in the process. …
“All these things are going to be beneficial for him because he is going to learn from them for the future. Let’s just hope we don’t have any more super hard ways to learn them.”
The Bears have made so many mistakes late it games that it’s become almost comical. It cost Matt Eberflus his job.
They can’t keep doing it.
“When you look at the end-of-game situations, some of the details to finish in those moments,” general manager Ryan Poles said. “We all know a lot of these games come down to those critical spots where we were not able to get over the hump.”
