Sean Mannion

Q. Why do you think QB Jalen Hurts looks so comfortable in this offense so early? (Dave Zangaro)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I think he’s naturally got a lot of poise, especially under the spotlight, he’s performed at a high level. Going back to college, he’s played in high pressure moments and I think he saw it come to light in the two-minute drill yesterday. He was comfortable, he was in command and executed well. I think the biggest thing is the way he’s attacked the fundamentals, going back to the spring, some of the things we’ve asked him to do that are a little different for him, really starting back in April, he dove in head first and has really attacked it each day. You can tell he’s the last one on the practice field working on his footwork, working on his progressions and things like that. It’s no accident that he’s become comfortable quickly.

Q. What will you have to do to get TE Zach Ertz game ready? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: Yeah. We’ll use this practice week and see what it looks like moving forward with his role with us and excited to add him. I know [we’re] a little dinged up with the position. Unfortunately, [TE] Dallas [Goedert] went out in the game two days ago, but Zach has a lot of history with the organization and excited to bring him in and use the week to see what his role may or may not look like.

Q. I’d imagine when you signed TE Zach Ertz, you had a vision for how he could help you guys. What are some ways you think he could help you with the offense? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Sean Mannion: Well, obviously he’s a very, very comfortable pass catcher. He’s had a really strong track record in that area. And again, I think when you look at the tight end group in particular, it’s about kind of the composite of everyone’s skill sets together. It’s what makes that position specifically unique is you have complimentary skill sets and how do they play off one another? How do they play off the different position groups that are on the field at the same time? So again, we’ll use the week to evaluate and see what Zach’s role looks like. We’re excited to have him here and it’s pretty cool. It’s funny, I was catching up [with him], I actually played against him in high school and then we were catching up and it’s cool because he’s had such a strong track record in this league and now to add him in kind of at a point midyear when we’re a little dinged up will be fun. It’ll be good to have a week of practice to see what his role looks like.

Q. With TE Dallas Goedert’s injury and what you have now at the tight end position, do you feel comfortable that you have enough guys that can two-way or do you feel like you have guys that are too much restricted to one skillset? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: No, we feel good about the group. We feel good about the group. That’s a prerequisite for the position is to be a two-way player and we feel comfortable with what we have there.

Q. Another one about QB Jalen Hurts, was there any point in the process that you started to feel like he’s going to be okay? I mean, early on, how early on did you feel like he was going to pick this thing up and be able to execute it? (Reuben Frank)

Sean Mannion: I’d say it was early on in the spring. Once you get on the grass with these guys in person, you can really get a feel for their fundamentals and where their eyes are as they’re reading through progression, you’re standing right next to them, so you can really see what he’s looking at. You can really feel the rhythm with his feet. You can really watch his throwing mechanics closely. And like I said, it’s a testament to the work that he’s put in, but you could tell early on that the footwork stuff, working through his progressions was going to come comfortably. It doesn’t happen overnight and he’s put a lot of work in. But I’d say early on I felt good about where he was going to be able to progress to come the regular season.

Q. From your view, the first down versus third down, first down has been a bit of a struggle. Third down, I think you’re number one in the league. What have you seen from your viewpoint there? (John McMullen)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I think there’s always going to be things to clean up each week. We’re attacking that as a staff, doing everything we can to put our players in the best position possible to succeed. I think when you look at week one, we weren’t able to stay on schedule. We kind of put ourselves behind the chains. It impacted our ability to marry the run and pass and do some of those things. We were better in that regard week two against Tennessee. We were much better at staying on schedule. I think we’re really close on a few of our things on first and second down, just some fundamental things to clean up, some corrections to make. Again, we’re always looking as a staff to put everyone in the best possible situation to succeed. So not to make it coach speak or anything like that, but I do think we’re really close there.

I think staying on schedule really helped us improve from week one or week two in that regard. But yeah, the success on third down has been exciting to watch. We want to keep leaning into that. I think the more you can stay in those manageable situations, it makes it easier on yourself. So really the first and second down offense and third down offense really play off one another in that way, but we’ll keep attacking each day and trying to build the best plan possible for the Bears this week.

Q. Along those lines, there’s a stat out there that you’re the only team in the NFL that hasn’t gotten a first down on first down. I guess, do you feel you’ve been aggressive enough on early downs and how much is that a factor in addition to trying to stay on schedule? (E.J. Smith)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, there’s multiple factors. Obviously you want to be as explosive as possible, but you’re going against the defense too. And sometimes they’re doing things that try to negate those explosive plays. I thought a good example of it was, I think it was the second or third series in the game. We called a shot play and Jalen did a great job checking it down and [now it’s] second and two. So everyone seeks to be an explosive offense. We’re certainly no exception, but ultimately you just need crisp execution and how the defense is playing, you may change where you need to go with the football, what the run game might look like. So there’s multiple variables there. And again, I think the biggest takeaway for me that was positive from our week two game was our ability to stay on schedule. Maybe it wasn’t the explosive gain, but it was the positive gain that allowed for us to stay manageable on third down and marry the run and pass throughout the game.

But yeah, I think that was the big thing I took away from the game.

Q. What have been the issues on the screen passes? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: I think we’re close on a few of them. I think there’s some fundamental things to clean up a little bit. I think we had a couple that were fundamental based, a couple that were just execution based, but the screen game’s going to be a big part of what we do and called a couple of them that were close and a couple that I think will across the season be more productive plays moving forward.

Q. What were your impressions of C/G Drew Kendall’s first start at center and C Cam Jurgens first start at left guard? (Olivia Reiner)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I though they both did a great job, stepping into a new role for both of them. Cam sliding over and Drew stepping in and starting at center on the road. I mean, that’s a tall order for anybody, but he equipped himself really well, road environment. We had no cadence issues. So I thought our pre-snap operation was really, really clean and against a premier interior player in this league with [Titans DT] Jeffrey Simmons. I think that’s the other part is that’s a tough matchup. I thought they both did a really good job in there. I think with the offensive line in particular, the more they can work with one another, you hope that they start to gel and it’s kind of a compounding effect as you move forward in the season.

Q. Anything pop up on film to change that configuration going forward? (Brooks Kubena)

Sean Mannion: We’re going to keep that close to the vest. I’m sure you understand my perspective on that, but I was really happy with how that group played. I think they’re going to continue to gel as the season progresses with one another.

Q. What was the experience like for you calling plays during that two-minute drill? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Sean Mannion: I felt good. I though the communication between me and the quarterback was clean. We had a timeout there in the middle of the drive where we were able to get some more communication in the margins, so to speak. Then I thought the communication with Nick, what he wanted to do situationally, I felt like it was a clean operation there. It was nice. We got into a rhythm early with that second down completion and then it was kind of moving clock mode and you’re just kind of rolling, kind of felt like it flowed well after that second down completion.

Q. What goes into finding a role for WR Makai Lemon versus the number of snaps he’s getting? (Jeff McLane)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, he’s doing a great job for us. I know he made the big third down play for us there. We have a lot of weapons. He’s one we’re very excited about. I think, again, there’s different ways that you’re attacking the defense, you’re using different motions. Sometimes the ball may be intended to go to them, but they throw a curve ball at you in terms of the coverage they’re giving you. So we’re excited about him. He does a lot of the little things well. That’s why he’s on the field and he’s really thriving for us in his role and we’re going to continue to look to get him going as the season goes on. He made a big play there on the third down. That was a really tough catch going to the ground with a guy on his back. So he’s doing a lot of stuff well for us. We’re going to continue to lean into that and use him more and more.

Q. What have you noticed out of some of the run game struggles and where you think needs to be cleaned up to kind of get that area going more? (Cayden Steele)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, I think we’re close. I think it’s just a few little things fundamentally, just some of the smaller details that if we just attack those, it’ll really come to life for us. But the guys are bought in. I think what we’re doing, being able to stay on schedule first and second down allows you to call more runs and then you never know when those are going to start to pop. But I felt like we’ve made strides from week one to week two. It was two different defenses, two different challenges in terms of your opponent. And I feel confident that moving forward, those are going to start to break through.

Q. What’s the benefit of varying the tempo the way you guys have done it? (Dave Zangaro)

Sean Mannion: I think there’s a variety of different reasons you choose to do it. I think generally speaking, we have the luxury offensively of we get to dictate how we line up and when we snap the ball. It’s just another way to apply pressure to the defense by not giving them as much time to react to us, not giving their play caller as much time to react to us and really trying to force the issue with our alignments and our pushing the pace. I thought we had that 16-play drive early in the game. I think it was like 14 or 15 plays and you could kind of feel us wearing them down, so to speak. Same thing with the drive before the half. I thought we were kind of wearing on them and you want to keep leaning into that tempo to try to really tire them out, wear them down and win at the line of scrimmage.

So we have the luxury again of being able to dictate kind of the pace that we play at and there’s a variety of different reasons you want to do it, but I think we’ve been effective so far using those.

Q. What’s your perspective on play action in that does the run game need to be effective for the play action game to be effective or do you think just the threat of it is enough? (Zach Berman)

Sean Mannion: I think they go hand-in-hand and you want to be productive in both. I think the play action game, we’ve had a couple explosives there, which has been good. I think we’re close in the run game and I think once we get both of those things firing on all cylinders, it becomes a compounding effect. They really run parallel to one another and it’s going to be a huge part of our offense.

Q. WR DeVonta Smith had tied to career high 13 targets. Is that a matter of riding the hot hand? (Ed Kracz)

Sean Mannion: I think the ball finds guys who get open and win and do things right. Smitty’s a tremendous player. He sets a standard for our offense, for our team, in terms of the way he works every day. It’s not an accident. We kind of talked about [WR Dontayvion] Wicks the other day in the press conference. He has a great practice rep and sure enough, it manifests itself in the game and he finds that the ball finds him. Smitty’s a guy who comes in here ready to work, is a total professional, and he does things right every time. And so it’s no surprise that you’re in a two minute drill, the ball’s going to find you. But yeah, he’s certainly a focal point of our offense, one of several. And some of that is intentional and then some of it is I think just a byproduct of him working to get open on every snap.

Jalen has a ton of trust in him and we have a play we get flushed up in the pocket and kind of in the high red zone, it’s not an accident. He’s working to get open, he’s working for Jalen as he’s kind of flushed out of the pocket and the ball finds him. So he’s definitely a focal point for us. Some of that was very deliberate. Some of it was in a two minute where you’re not necessarily thinking of it in the same way, but he’s able to win. And again, I just can’t speak more highly of him in terms of the worker and the professional he is every day.

Q. Sean, on the game winning touchdown, RB Will Shipley had the blitz pickup there. How have you seen his growth in pass protection really grow under your tutelage? (Andrew DiCecco)

Sean Mannion: Yeah, he’s done an outstanding job. Really all of our backs, we feel great about all of them. They all have a skill set that we’re excited about. I think the third down protection stuff is something that can sometimes be overlooked, right? It doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. But in those high-pressure moments, it’s a two-minute drive. The defense knows you’re more than likely going to throw. It’s critical. It’s critical that you have backs in there who can block a linebacker or give the quarterback time to get that ball to [WR Darius Cooper] Coop there in the end zone. So yeah, he’s done a tremendous job with that. He’s done a great job in the run game as well going to the preseason. He ran the ball super effectively. We feel good about all the backs on our roster and they did a great job.

I know [RB] Saquon [Barkley] kind of got knocked out of the game there, tried to give it a go and couldn’t finish, but him and [RB] Tank [Bigsby] both stepped up big time. It was what, 190 degrees or something crazy and it’s a tough condition and they really carried a heavy load for us and brought us through the end of the game and did a great job.