NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. CHICAGO BEARS
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017 ● MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME
CHICAGO BEARS HEAD COACH JOHN FOX
On the injuries today:
"Zach Miller was taken to the hospital. He dislocated his knee. We are further evaluating him. He will be in our thoughts and prayers on the flight home. The other guys, we had some nicks on the offensive line. Kyle Long went out with a hand (injury) as well as Cody Whitehair with an elbow (injury). Then, Josh Sitton (went out)."
On the effort:
"All in all, I thought that it was a great effort by our football team. We had plenty of opportunities. We just came up a little short."
On if the reversed touchdown catch to an incomplete pass on a Mitchell Trubisky-Zach Miller connection affected the team's play afterwards:
"Not really. It didn't appear to be. Our guys continued to fight. We would rather have a touchdown than a field goal. I think that we had two calls that, I think, went to New York (for review), the (Alvin) Kamara fumble as well as the Zach Miller catch."
On if he thought the Miller reversal was a catch:
"It doesn't really matter what I think. It's like asking me what you think. That was the rule. You know our restrictions. It can be complicated (to understand), no doubt."
On what he liked or didn't like about Mitchell Trubisky's last two drives:
"I think our whole football team competed very hard. I'm proud of that. I told them to walk out of here with their heads high. We've got a bye week this week. We have a chance to get some guys well, healthy. We've got some young guys that we have plugged in, including Mitch, that will give us an opportunity to get up to speed and get better during that time."
On the solid play of the defense:
"Our defense has been pretty salty for a month now. I think today's no different as far as taking the ball away and putting it back in our offense's hands. We missed a field goal. That was three points. We just don't have a lot of room for error. It's not a lack of compete, for sure."
On Zach Miller:
"He is a fantastic person. He's a great teammate. He is loved in our locker room. You hate to see it (injury) happen to anybody, especially somebody like that."
On if he considered running on fourth and one during their drive late in the game:
"It is like flipping a coin. You've pretty much got 50-50 (chance) right there. Obviously, it didn't work. We didn't execute as well as they did. They took possession of the ball. It was an option, though."
On if Kyle Long tried to talk him into going back in the game:
"Not really. I think that he was capable of going back in. We decided to put the healthy guy in there instead, which I would do again."
BEARS QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY
On the Zach Miller touchdown play that was reversed to an incomplete pass following instant replay:
"I just went through my progressions and fell into the corner on the back side. I just put it in a spot where Zach could make a play on it. He made a heck of a catch and it was a great effort on his part. The call was what it was, but I thought it was an awesome play and effort on his part. It was a big play in the game."
On if he realized at first Miller was seriously hurt:
"When I went over to him and he was still on the ground (I realized it)."
On the Bears continuing to play New Orleans tough after the Miller injury:
"It was tough. Zach means a lot to this team, beyond the X's and O's and what he brings to the field, but more what he brings to us as a person. Specifically, to me, how much he has helped me grow over this process. So, you never want to see a teammate go down like that."
On how surprised he was that the play was reversed following an instant replay review:
"(I was) Pretty surprised."
On if he saw any evidence that the call should have been overturned:
"Not from my point of view."
On the last fourth down play where Saints S Kenny Vaccaro deflected the pass and got the Saints defense off the field:
"We had a little in-cut coming, and I had to get it over the linebacker and I left it a little too high. So, we had what we wanted. It was a good call. I missed a little bit. I've made that throw hundreds of times. So, just learn from it, get better, and just got to bring it down a little bit to give your receiver a better chance."
On what Drew Brees said to him after the game:
"He just said, 'keep working, congrats.' We know a mutual friend, so we just talked about that a little bit. I said congrats to him on the landmark he reached (6,000 career completions). He is a great dude and awesome competitor."
On if he feels that they are getting closer to completing late game drives:
"Definitely. We were in it the whole game, and we still had a chance at the end. [The] Defense continues to play tremendously and keep us in these games. We're getting closer as an offense. We just need to become more
consistent. I thought we communicated great in a hostile environment. We are getting close. Nobody has their head down, nobody is pouting. We just continue to lean on each other and know we have each other's back. We're going to keep working, keep getting better and get back to winning football."
On priorities heading into the bye week:
"Just watching film and getting better each day. Whether it's doing treatment, getting in the weight room, watching film. Just getting guys healthy. Just continue to stay focused. Really take advantage of this week, because we are at the halfway point, and then just come back even hungrier for next week, so that's what we are going to do. I am really excited where this football team is headed, even though we came up short today. We are going to keep fighting."
On the Saints defense:
"They mixed it up. They mixed it up a lot with the blitzes and the backhand a lot more than what we have seen on film. They played us differently than what they have shown previously and that's okay. We just got to adjust on the fly and we did a good job communicating and adjusting to it. We were moving the ball all game. We just got to find ways to convert those into points and finishing wins out more."
Punt Returner/Running Back Tarik Cohen
On emotion of Miller injury:
"It is a tremendous loss, Z-man going down. He is big in the momentum. He always gets us fired up. He knows exactly what to say and do at that (time) and making that big play (like he tried to). We have to find ways to keep moving forward."
On last kick return:
"I just knew I was going to have to bring it out. You know, try to make a play just to try to put some momentum on our back and just finish through the last stretch of the game."
On QB Mitchell Trubisky's big run in the fourth quarter:
"It gives us a big lift because it puts us in scoring position. It really fires up the defense. They get a bigger rest because we had them on the field a little too much. When they get to breathe a little more, when they come back on the field they can make more plays also."
Wide Receiver Kendall Wright
On Bear's passing game:
"It was okay. It could be better. We made some plays. We left a lot of plays out there. It could definitely be better. I don't know where it comes from. We can be better. We can get our routes deeper. We haven't really had to pass the ball much the last few games, so for us, as receivers and quarterbacks, we just got to go out there and stay getting the extra work in. We have a lot of great backs. We never know when we have one of those games where we got to run it. Our job, we have to go out there and have to stay on our stuff and keep running routes with Mitch [Trubisky]. Just keep doing extra stuff because you never know when you have a day like this when you have to pass it."
On passing success and the performance of Tre McBride III:
"We definitely been pushing for it. That's what we want to do. We don't get a lot of opportunities, so we have to make those plays whenever they come to us. He [Tre McBride III] made a few good ones today. We just got to keep making those. The more plays we make the more we get a chance to throw it around. So, we just got to go back to the drawing board for this (next) weekend (after bye). Get some guys healthy and just go out there next week (in two weeks) when we play and play."
Wide Receiver Tre McBride III
On big catch:
"The goal is always to go out there and get open and make the big plays for Trubisky and the offense. That was the momentum that we needed and I think we capitalized off it."
On Miller injury and call reversal:
"Zach was somebody I really looked up to when I first got here. Really cool guy. Really down to earth. He was one of the first people to talk to me when I signed on to the Bears. I am going to miss him this season. I do not what the injury is, but if he is not back I will miss him. Every play and every down, I'll be playing with him in mind. As far as the call, I thought it was a touchdown, just like everyone else on the sideline." "I was a few yards away, it looked like a catch to me in real life and on the prompter."
Linebacker Pernell McPhee
On late turnovers giving them chance to win late:
"We say we had to make a play for our brothers. We just went out there and made a play for our offense and try to give them the ball back, so we can put them in a position to score a touchdown and tie it up."
On what he said when he gathered teammates on the sideline in the fourth quarter:
"Just breathe. They weren't doing nothing they we haven't seen on film. They were gaming us with (a) hurry-up offense and screen and run. I (was) just telling everybody to slow down the game and play football. Just breathe."
On the performance of the defense in the second half:
"Play football. Play dominant. Be us. Be the Chicago Bears defense. I think we did a great job with doing that in the second half."
On Adrian Amos' strip in the fourth quarter:
"It was a great play. It was a great defensive play. It was a selfless play, just going all out for the defense and trying get the ball back so we can win."
Safety Adrian Amos
On performance today:
"It wasn't good enough because we lost. We [are] playing to win. We lost, so we got to do a little better."
On if momentum swung with strip in fourth quarter:
"It didn't really result in points. (We) Just have to find a way to get up and go. Just as a team, we just have to be a little more (consistent) over the course of the game to try to win that game."
On the Bear's defense:
"We just [are] improving every week, trying to improve every week. To help us win, I think we need to improve a little bit more moving forward."
