Editor’s note: Each week during the NFL season, former Bears defensive lineman Alex Brown shares his football wisdom with RedEye. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
When coach John Fox says “we don’t have a plan” for when Jay Cutler returns, should the players be worried? What’s he trying to say exactly?
I think that he just wants the focus to be on the guys that are there. It doesn’t help the football team at all to focus on a guy that isn’t going to help us play or help us prepare for that game. If Cutler’s not available, then there shouldn’t be any focus on him. Talking about, “well, what about in three weeks?” Well hell, there’s so much to think about daily, he ain’t got time to think about three weeks from now.
The fact that it’s even a question kind of bothers me. They’re not winning games, but I don’t think it’s [quarterback Brian] Hoyer’s fault. He’s thrown for [1,016] yards in the last three games, [with] no interceptions. He’s doing pretty doggone good. Compared to what Jay did in his small sample size this season, I don’t think there’s any question you gotta keep Hoyer in there. But that’s just me.
What’s the biggest reason they are unsuccessful right now?
They don’t play a full game. Take that dallas game, they didn’t show up until the second half. That first half of the dallas game was awful, they had four first downs. We gotta be better than that.
Penalties, that hurt them [against Indianapolis]. Jordan Howard scores a touchdown and we get a holding penalty. Doing things like that against a really good team, it makes the game out of reach for you because they capitalize on that. But that comes in time, learning how to win.
I know we’re still losing, but we are competitive and one play here, one play there and we win those games [against Dallas and Houston].
What scares you about this week’s opponent, Jacksonville?
That defense is pretty doggone good and they are uber-athletic at most positions. They’ve got some speed rushers on that edge coming after the quarterback. [Defensive end Dante] Fowler is a man. We’d better block him or he’ll have three sacks in the first half. You look at [cornerback] Jalen Ramsey, this kid is long, fast, has great instincts. The ball goes up in the air and he thinks it’s his.
Their receivers are the real deal, too. But [quarterback] Blake Bortles, he throws the nastiest [looking] ball. He’s been terrible this year as far as not throwing the ball where it’s supposed to be and in a timely manner. But if he figures that out, then they have a high-powered offense that can go.
The way [the ball] comes out [of Bortles’ hands], it looks unorthodox. It looks like a bad ball, like a ball that’s tailing down. Hey, he’s gotten this far doing it that way and he put up a lot of points last year. They were in a position where they had to come from behind a lot last year and he put up a bunch of yards and points. If he has success early, I think he’ll start to feel it.
How can the Bears possibly reach the playoffs? Should they even be thinking about that?
What you’re trying to do is if you go 3-1 in each quarter, then you’re 12-4 and you’ve got a chance. All right, we didn’t end up that way in the beginning. We ended up 1-3, now we’re already 0-1 in the second quarter. What are we gonna do?
Let’s try to win the next one but in this quarter, we’ve still got some really tough teams. We’ve got to beat the teams that we’re supposed to compete with. But no, don’t think about the playoffs. All you’ve got to think about is getting better. We’ve got to string plays together; that’s how you get a lead. On defense, you’ve got to string plays together; and that’s how you get guys backed up. I don’t think the playoffs should be on their mind. Their thoughts should be let’s continue to get better each and every week, and let’s see where we end up.
Let’s see if you can stack on some good weeks together and before you know it, you’re back to .500 and now you’re looking a little better as far as where you are in the division. The thought is not “playoffs,” that’s too broad. you’re thinking about winning your division because that’s the easiest way to get into the playoffs.
Catch Alex Brown before and after every Bears game exclusively on Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s “Bears Pregame Live” and “Bears Postgame Live.”
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BEARS VS. JACKSONVILLE
Noon Sunday, CBS
