This week Cary Williams said losing on Sunday knocked you guys off your high horse. Tried to find the silver lining in that. How does that make you feel, the spin he put on it?
COACH KELLY: How does what make me feel? The spin that he put on it? I don't care what spin Cary puts on things. We lost the football game, we all know that, we took responsibility for it. Getting ready for Chicago.
Do you agree with the sentiment that the loss is a good thing?
COACH KELLY: I don't think any loss is a good thing. But I think every circumstance you're in, you can learn from. That's a very valid point. I mean, losses happen, wins happen. You have to learn from all your losses and get ready for the next game.
What specific thing do you learn from the loss?
COACH KELLY: You just learn from every situation you're in. What do we do in the critical situations? We didn't keep our poise very well in the fourth quarter. There are a lot of things you can learn.
Bennie Logan played 50 of 75 snaps on Sunday. What has he been doing to earn more snaps? Does it have something to do with his ability to pass‑rush?
COACH KELLY: He's just progressed as the season went along. Obviously he's a rookie. You see him adapt a lot more to the scheme as the season has gone along.
Our players understand on a weekly bases how you practice, how you perform, how you train is what we're looking for from them during the week. Just because you played well four weeks ago doesn't affect what you're doing this week.
The one thing with Bennie that you love is each week he seems to get a little bit better, a little bit more comfortable in what we're trying to do, getting a lot of production out of him. That's why he warrants playing time.
Obviously you have injuries at safety. Is there one guy that's hurt more than others for why you brought Keelan Johnson up from the practice squad?
COACH KELLY: We know we're probably going to be down a guy so we need to have another safety up.
What have you seen from Keelan on practice squad?
COACH KELLY: Just solid. Very steady every single day. Really consistent in what he's done out there. Our guys, we practice at a really good tempo. Those guys on the practice squad, the Keelans, the Travis Longs, the Will Murphys, the Brandon Bairs, those guys have been outstanding all season long.
Obviously if you have to bring a guy up we'd rather bring a guy up from the practice squad because he's been here. He understands out system. It's not trying to get a guy on a Tuesday, trying to tell them what our calls are, what the fits are. We tell all our practice players to prepare like you're going to play because when the opportunity comes, it can't be, Oh, God, I didn't know this was going to happen and I'm not prepared for it. He's a big kid, physical kid. See what we can do.
Did you ever go to Canada, the CFL, to look at what Marc Trestman did up there?
COACH KELLY: I've been to Canada and I've seen things. But not Marc, no.
Is it hard to tell after a game like that the mentality of a team when you have them in the meetings if you can read anything by their approach coming off that game?
COACH KELLY: No, I think our guys are very consistent in their approach. It was the same way when we were 3‑5. That's why I knew we had a good group of guys that are very serious in terms of what we're trying to get accomplished here.
What is the process of Nick Foles for Monday and Tuesday?
COACH KELLY: Monday is a day off for all of our guys. We meet every Tuesday, go over the game. That's the first thing we do. Then we move on to our next opponent. It's pretty consistent in terms of our approach. We go from a team meeting, to a group meeting, to a position meeting.
Is it tough to work on mechanics at that position for a quarterback this later in the season?
COACH KELLY: No. We work on fundamentals every day. I think if you do take that approach, then so be it. You're not going to be good at it. Our D‑line hits the sled every day, our quarterbacks work drops every day, we do hand‑offs every day.
The first drill we do when we go out there is center‑quarterback exchange. I don't think you can ever say there's a point in time in the season when you can say we can't go work on these things.
Is changing mechanics too much for a quarterback to handle this late in the season?
COACH KELLY: We're not changing the mechanics. We need to be more consistent. Nick can throw a football. Nick is very good at throwing a football. We're not bringing in and make him an over‑the‑top thrower, if that's your question.
In terms of all of our guys, everybody needs to work on our fundamentals. It's a consistent thing. Just because you did it well last week doesn't mean you're going to do it well this week. That's the point I'm trying to make.
What have you seen from the Bears?
COACH KELLY: A lot of diversity. They do a really good job in attacking with personnel groupings and schemes. Sometimes it's six offensive linemen where one of the offensive lineman is actually playing a wing in the backfield. The first thing that jumps out is the talent at receiver. You have two really big guys that have great range and can go get it. Even when they're covered one on one doesn't mean they are covered.
Then they've got maybe the most complete back when you look at [Matt] Forte in terms of his pass pro pickup, his ability to beat a receiver out of the backfield, then his ability to run.
The one thing you admire, they didn't miss a beat when they went to their backup quarterback. I think that's a credit to the system that Marc is running up there.
How big a challenge would their special teams be? They have a good kick returner. You're coming off a couple weeks where your special teams hasn't been so good.
COACH KELLY: It's a huge challenge. When you look at this game, everything is so close, there's not one factor you can overlook. The game may be determined on special teams. It's a big point of emphasis for us. But it's always been a big point of emphasis for us.
Is Devin Hester the same type of threat that Cordarrelle Patterson is?
COACH KELLY: He's a threat. They're different types of returners. He's as big a threat as there is in the league. Cordarrelle is more of a physical return guy because of his size, what he does. Devin is more of a speed guy I would say. He's just as big a threat in terms of every time he touches the ball, there's a potential for him to return it for a touchdown.
The Bears had difficulties against the Redskins run option plays. Did you see that?
COACH KELLY: I think [the Bears] did a decent job against them. What the Redskins do from that aspect and their running game is entirely different than what we do.
We're not going to say, Hey, let's put three tight ends in the backfield and run a pistol formation. That's just not what we do.
How has Kyle Long played for them? You coached him in college.
COACH KELLY: He's a guard. He's been really good. We only had him for one year. He went to Florida State originally, played baseball, went to junior college.
He's as athletic as anybody. He legitimately runs in the high 4.8s, 4.9s. He's nasty. He's physical. He's really a fun guy to watch on film because he loves playing football. I loved coaching him. He's awesome.
I just hope he doesn't play well this week. The Bears' talent at receiver, how much of a challenge is that for the secondary?
COACH KELLY: It's a huge challenge. No one is going to give us a waiver because we're banged up. That is part of what this deal is all about.
We look at it as an opportunity to go out and compete against them. That's what we got, we've got a bunch of competitive guys, a bunch of competitive coaches that want to go challenge them.
There is no better group of receivers to challenge yourself than those two guys that they can put out there in [Brandon] Marshall and [Alshon] Jeffery.
Earl Wolff is pretty confident he's going to be able to play on Sunday. Are you confident?
COACH KELLY: I have confidence that he'll practice well today and we'll go from there.
Has he progressed even more?
COACH KELLY: He's getting better. Again, it's the same thing. We've had guys get hurt on Friday. There's no reason for me to talk about what's going to happen on Sunday. Let's have a really, really good Wednesday and that's what we can control.
Earl talked about needing to push his knee but not push it too hard. He had never been in that kind of situation before. He was trying to feel his way through it. Have you discussed that with him at all?
COACH KELLY: I leave all injuries up to our trainers and doctors. They tell him where he should be in terms of how hard he should work and what he shouldn't work.
For me to weigh in on what his knee feels like, my thoughts on that type of injury, where it is, I mean, I'm smart enough to know what I don't know and there's a lot that I don't know. So I'll defer to the guys who really do know it.
Has Brandon Boykin finished the concussion protocol?
COACH KELLY: No. When he gets cleared, we'll tell you when he gets cleared.
