On whether DE Jason Babin benefitted from having DE Trent Cole back: "Trent Cole is a Pro Bowl type player. When you have two guys like that on each edge, it's hard for people to slide to one, bring it back, or chip over to the other one. I think that's the thing. Trent has a lot of energy, and so does Babin. We talked about that last week where you have Babin and Trent's percent. They work on a different level, and we're trying to get everybody to work at that level."
On whether pushing the offensive line back is just as effective as sacking the quarterback: "I think that you have to understand it's about hitting the quarterback. When is he throwing the football? Is it coming out on a hitch or a plant? If the ball comes out on a plant or a hitch, they aren't going to get there anyway so the important thing is to push. That's part of the equation. If the QB hitches twice, we expect the d-linemen to come in and get a sack. That's where the coverage part of it comes into effect."
On what Chicago specializes in with offensive schemes: "They do a great job. Their offensive line coach [Mike Tice] is a great coach. They do this one play, kind of like a G play, kind of a like an outside zone but it's a man play that that do a great job with and they feature that play. Really, they have a few other schemes. They have a gap scheme and they do a lead scheme. They have some trap schemes. They're kind of like the Cowboys in that they have a few different schemes that they major in. With that G play, he's really done a great job with that, it's a great run."
On whether the main key to the game is to limit Bears RB Matt Forte: "It is, but Jay Cutler is a great quarterback. The first four plays in the Vikings game, they played single safety, and four of the first six plays in the game were passes. I think that Mike Martz is a great coach and coordinator. People talk about Jay Cutler getting hit, and he's a warrior. That's a leader, he has a great arm, and he's one of the great quarterbacks in the NFL."
On how Chicago's offensive line has stepped up to protect Cutler better in recent weeks: "They are a timing offense, which you see him under center a lot, but really with their protection schemes they are running more play pass on first and second downs. They are holding more people in to protect and they're doing a great job running the football."
On whether the past few weeks wins have taken some heat off of him: "We are always trying to get better and there are always problems to solve. That's just part of the job. There are things that we have to correct today in practice and our guys know that it's just like before and it doesn't change. Like [WR] DeSean [Jackson] said after the game, we are happy that we won but we are a 3-4 football team. We all know that, and our goal is to get to 4-4 and every day improving our fundamentals. That's the key. We know that if we practice hard today and work on our fundamentals, we have a better chance of winning the game on Monday night."
On where the run defense currently stands: "I think a couple of runs came right before the half when we were playing, I think they had 30 yards before that, and they had a big run. I have to do a better job lining up one of my guys. They had like 36 yards there so that makes over 60. When you look at the other runs, they were two, two, minus one, zero. We felt like we did what we had to do in that game and I think this presents a greater challenge. Forte is like our running back [LeSean McCoy], one of the best in the NFL."
On CB Nnamdi Asomugha's big plays last game: "Nnamdi is a physical person. He has always been physical. I think with Nnamdi, it's no different than if you were to move to another newspaper. There are different things you have to learn and you have to get to know each other. Even though it's man coverage, we call it different and when three guys get together, those words how you would handle that are different words. All of that came really without a training camp because he and [CB] Dominique [Rodgers-Cromartie] really missed training camp because they started working with us when we started one-a-days."
On how much more man coverage they are playing than zone coverage: "We are doing the same thing that we were doing in training camp. Basically, we are switching the coverages. We have a few coverages that we use that the guys like, but we have been doing the same thing and working on fundamentals. You go out to practice today and you see us doing the same thing that we've been doing."
On how DE Brandon Graham practiced yesterday: "He practiced hard. He's going to have to play himself into shape because he hasn't been on a football field. Brandon has a lot of heart, man. He is very motivated and he is a special guy who has some ability. He's a first round draft pick. We're excited to put him in the mix with the other guys."
On whether he will definitely be activated and not sent to IR: "That's up to Coach [Andy] Reid so you'll have to ask him. I just know he plays hard."
On how Forte compares with Buffalo RB Fred Jackson: "What we talked about is that it's football. Blocking and tackling. For us, on Monday night, it's going to be about tackling and gang tackling. What we talked about this week is we have to make sure that we do a good job tackling him and everyone who is around is tackling. That's why we think yesterday we had pads on and I think with our tackle circuit, our guys understand that and take it seriously. You know what happens is that there is a clip of [CB] Asante [Samuel], I'm not sure what play it is, but Asante makes a tackle on the sideline and it's pretty vicious. When I looked at it, it looked like him doing the drill. That's one of the things that we show on Wednesday and really Thursday is we show the guys making tackles. [LB] Moise [Fokou] had a really great play where he took on the tight end, used his hands, shredded the tight end and made a solo tackle. Asante did the same thing. Our goal on Monday is that some guys are going to have to make plays like that and have solo tackles. The rest of it is we are going to have to make gang tackles. Tackling is really going to be key for us."
On how MLB Jamar Chaney is a team leader: "The thing is that Jamar basically runs the defense. He basically calls the huddle, and he's the one who calls the checks. Sometimes some of the safeties do that, but I think what's happening now is that being a young guy and playing with veterans, what happens is he has to prove himself to them. Part of that is so that he can feel comfortable because he has to tell those guys what to do and getting on their butts. I think what you're seeing is that Jamar is a very blessed individual and he's working hard and he's a smart kid. It's just a matter of time. I think he is showing on the field. He had nice, tight coverage last week on the tight end and that's the kind of stuff we have been working on. He made some good plays in the run game, so he's just getting better and better. I think when you watch tape, all the other guys are going to see that he's a big time player."
On whether Asomugha is playing the type of role that he envisioned in training camp: "What we tried to do with Nnamdi, and that's what our goal was, and I think that when we talked, Nnamdi wants to be a playmaker. He wants to be in position where he can take out their best guy. He can make plays so that the ball comes his way instead of being somewhere where there isn't going to be any action. He wants to be in the action. I think you saw that last week and he was on the tight end a couple of times, he was on the slot receiver, and he was on the corner and the outside receiver. We had a couple of blitzes but they didn't come about for him. I think he's having fun and he's starting to understand our system."
On whether the coaching staff started scaling Asomugha back to push him again: "What happened was I probably started too fast for him. When I think again going back, I think we talked about this earlier, is that I probably gave him too much, too early, without having a training camp. He wasn't here for two-a-days, and so then I scaled back. Nnamdi and I talked, and I called him Monday night and I said, 'Hey, I'm thinking about this and what about this vs. this group and can you handle it, is this good?' He'll text me back and say no problem and say stick this coverage in for me and stick this blitz in for me. Things like that."
On Chaney's comfort zone and his ability to play other LB spots: "Jamar can be standout at whatever linebacker position he would like. He runs a 4.5 at 245-250 pounds. He's physical, smart. That's ability. When you give a coach ability like that, he's going to be a Pro Bowl player some day."
On whether Chaney's development has helped the defense limit the output of opposing RBs and TEs: "Yes, through the coverages and understanding the coverages just a little different. We are trying to play a little tighter in the coverages, which in order to do that, our linebackers have to be athletic. We feel that we have a good, athletic group, and so we're trying to get them to play a little tighter. That's not easy if you're not used to doing that. It takes a little bit of time to tell a guy to not stand right there but to go stand next to him. Those things, it's easy in drills and practice, but in games you have to do it over and over and over before it becomes a muscle memory thing. That's what we're trying to work on."
On whether you need a certain personality to play MLB: "You know what? When you hit and you deliver a blow with your hands to their face on an offensive lineman, you're not screaming and yelling. It's a jolt with the hands, and the face, and the hips. When you go and tackle someone, you're not out there banging your chest out there to tackle the guy. It's a chest-to-chest, throw your arms, run with your feet type deal. To me, that's what a linebacker is about is making plays. When you start making the plays on the field, you become a leader so that when you say something, you don't have to say it loud and be rah-rah. Everybody is going to listen to you because you're a football player and you know the defense. Jamar does, and he studies a lot. He'll be in here tonight late and he was in here yesterday and he'll be in here tomorrow. We text each other and tell me about the game plan. He's into it mentally, too, so you take a guy that's smart, loves the game, and is talented like that and he's evolving into what he should be."
On whether he should not have been moved to SLB in the first place: "With what we were doing, that was a feature position for him. That was a position initially where he was almost playing like a strong safety. Once people had seen that, imagine a 250 pound linebacker filling the C-gap to all the sudden playing like a strong safety. Like I said, at either position, he's still a good player. I think it comes back to the rest of the guys that we have. We still have some young guys who are getting better. Casey [Matthews] is getting better and [Brian] Rolle is getting better. Those are young guys. It takes time to develop."
On what he sees in the Chicago defense that he can model his defense after: "For me, inside, this is a great opportunity because that's how much respect I have for their defense. Now, for our defense, our guys look at it and they don't want to be like anybody. They want to be like the Philadelphia Eagles. They want to be their own. It's different now. We have a starting place, and once you feel that you get to that spot, it's different. We want people to look at us and say that they want to be like the Philadelphia Eagles by the time the season's over. We're not there yet and we have a job to do. That's what we're doing right now."
