What They're Saying: Colts-Bears, Week 4

The host Chicago Bears want to stay unbeaten. The visiting Indianapolis Colts are hoping to win for a third consecutive week.

Here’s what the Indianapolis Colts (2-1) and Chicago Bears (3-0) had to say before Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. kickoff at Soldier Field. (Note: Game has been flexed to a later starting time due to Patriots-Chiefs postponement.)

Colts linebacker Darius Leonard, on if extra precautions have been taken since the Tennessee Titans suffered a Coronavirus outbreak: “No, we don’t take any additional precautions because we talked about it day one. It’s all about accountability and putting the team before everything. We have a lot of selfless guys in our locker room that are willing to put themselves last instead of going out, and putting the team first. That’s one thing I commend about this locker room. Everybody wants to go out, but we know we have common goal and that is win the Super Bowl. We can’t win a Super Bowl with COVID in the house. We’re definitely taking the right precautions there. Yes, it’s a wake-up call because we haven’t talked about COVID for a long time and now that it hit – it hits you right there. OK, guys make sure you’re still doing it because sometimes you can get lackadaisical about it because it’s not happening. It’s definitely a wake-up call not just for Tennessee or the Vikings but the whole NFL.”

Colts head coach Frank Reich, on what stands out about a Chuck Pagano defense: “Just very well-coached, disciplined, really good at disguise on the backend. Coverage wise, they do a really good job. Then pressure wise with the personnel that they have, I think one of the things Chuck – I have not played him a lot, but I think just watching and admiring his coaching career – he does a good job of adapting to his personnel. Yeah, they can bring exotic blitzes, but that’s not what they major in. They major in kind of five-man pressures because they like their defensive front so they’re just trying to get one-on-ones to get the win up front. That is just kind of the M-O and that is pretty common and pretty smart to be honest with you. So, we’ve got to play good football, one-on-one football. We talk about it every week, we’re going to prepare but at the end of the day we have to win our one-on-one matchup. So a big part of this game will be our one-on-one matchups in pass protection. Chuck’s not pressuring a real high amount this year in general. I would say it’s pretty average. Plus or minus from that, we’ve got to be really good in protection. They obviously have some good pass-rushers.”

Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, on what he remembers from playing for Pagano (Colts head coach from 2012-17): “He’s a great leader. I know he’s going to get those guys ready, get them up. He’s going against the Colts, a team he coached. I know they’re going to bring it. They’re going to want to win for him so we have to match their energy.”

Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, on going up against the Colts offensive line: “They do a great job. It’s one of the best if not the best unit in the National Football League. They play so well together. I don’t know if we had, through the course of six years . . . they’ve got (21) straight whatever it is of playing together. The continuity there, that’s what you’re looking for. It’s gonna be a heckuva challenge for us to try to get to the quarterback, create some pressure.’’

Pagano, on defending Hilton and Colts tight end Jack Doyle: “We know T.Y.'s a game wrecker, and he can still run. He can still get behind you. He's sneaky good. He's sneaky fast. We nicknamed him 'The Ghost.' He's still holding up that end of the nickname pretty well. And Jack's just ol' reliable. In a tough, critical situation, both those guys, they're going to feed them the ball, and they're going to make plays for that quarterback. So it's a challenge."

Reich, on if it’s there’s a little extra juice when facing a team that let a person go: “I think all players naturally feel that. I think you have to really dial that back a little bit. Personally, that’s just my opinion. You’ve got to focus on your game, what you’re doing. Just having seen and been in that situation a few times, that’s just my experience. Don’t get too caught up in the emotion of that, just focus on the game and what you’ve got to do.”

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Colts safety Khari Willis, on playing next to rookie Julian Blackmon: “I enjoy Julian. He’s obviously a great talent, a really good player who is just growing week-to-week. I think his communication is growing. I think his skillset is what we’re looking for back there in the back end. I miss my guy Hook (Malik Hooker) but still having Julian back there, I feel like our relationship has grown off the field. Hopefully, that helps us later on down the road.”

Colts defensive end Justin Houston, on the Bears having two comeback wins: “The game is not over until there is zero-zero on the clock, so no matter who we’re playing, where we’re playing, you have to finish the game. You have to play all four quarters. We know that.”

Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, on why team has struggled on third down: “I think at the end of it, it’s lack of execution here and there, little things. We know how critical that down is. It’s interesting because we haven’t had a three-and-out as far as starting a possession. We’ve had a bunch of first downs. I don’t know where we are in first downs, but yet third down we’re not near where we want to be or where we expect to be. Again, I think when it’s all said and done, we can get there from a percentage standpoint. We’re not so far. I just think it’s a lack of execution of things here and there. A couple times we had balls tipped, a couple of times it’s been missed throws. It’s just been a hair off and we know that’s the difference. If you’re a hair off on first down, you snap it again on second down and quickly forget it. But third down, it ends a possession. We just have to continue to clean things up and work at it. I don’t think we need to overreact because we’re doing a lot of good things and we have converted some key third downs but certainly, need to do a better job there of staying on the field at a higher percentage.”

Running back Jonathan Taylor, on if he’s ever gone three consecutive games without a long run: “You definitely do want to get into the open field and let your legs go, but I think we did a great job – not we did, the guys in the running back group – when I got here they were explaining like, ‘Hey, this is a new level of football now. So you’re going to have your opportunity.’ But I kind of alluded to it earlier – when you see it, you have to hit it otherwise that’s your opportunity right there. You know it’s that much tougher to get out in the open field and when you get out into the open field, you have to make it count. It’s definitely an adjustment but you have to understand, it’s big-boy football now. Four yards or better is acceptable, but you definitely want to get out into that open field and kind of show your talents.”

Reich, on Bears quarterback Nick Foles (they won Super Bowl ring together in Philadelphia): “Nick is a very cool customer. He’s unflappable. He’s an elite deep-ball thrower. He’s a great ‘feel’ player. He’s got great instincts and great feel for the game. Nick is fearless in the pocket. He’s one of those quarterbacks who – he stands in the pocket and the rush doesn’t bother him. He’ll stand there until the last second because he sees something coming open down the field and he knows he can make the throw like he did last week. That’s just been indicative of him his whole career. It will be a good challenge for us, a good challenge for our defense. They’ll challenge us with the deep ball because that’s what he likes to do. He likes to throw the ball deep. Nick is also talented as far as he can throw it from every arm angle. Nick was a really good basketball player. He was like a point guard. So, as far as side-arm delivery – a lot of things that Philip (Rivers) can do like that. He’s a magician with the ball so he’s really good at the RPO stuff. I’m sure that will be a little bit of an emphasis with him in there. He reads that stuff and sees it very well. He’s good with the ball like that. Talented player, but I like our defense. I like our defense. I like our plan. I think ‘Flus’ (defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus) and the guys have come up with a good plan to attack their offense and it’s going to be a great game. I think you have two good football teams, two well-coached teams. We’re looking forward to the contest.”

Eberflus, on what defensive statistics mean the most: “To play good football on defense, I believe it’s limiting explosive plays. You want to be able to do that. At the end of the day, you want to be able to say you tackled well and you want to say that you had strip attempts at the football. I think that when you look at it and the big picture in the basic sense, and I’m not talking about rush average, pass average, first downs, third-down percentages and all those things that we look at, but I think that’s really it. If you tackle well, limit explosives and you have strip attempts, that means your guys are on the details and then you create momentum through those three things.”

Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez, on if his preparation changes when facing a talented returner like Cordarelle Patterson: “It doesn’t really change too much. Obviously, you have to understand what kind of returner he is. Normally, typically, in the league everybody is really good. He’s obviously a special guy back there. We just have to go out to practice and execute what Bubba (Ventrone) tells us and what the plan is – the game plan. You can’t go out there and do your own thing. I feel like the biggest thing is just going out there and doing your job.”

Colts wide receiver Daurice Fountain, on his first NFL receptions last Sunday: “It was pretty amazing to be honest. I didn’t really realize it at first until Jack (Doyle) came up to me. He was like, ‘Hey man, congratulations. I know that was your first catch.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was just really focused on trying to get the ball back to the ref, but it was really amazing. Obviously, it was a milestone. Man, it was just a blessing. I just felt good.”

Reich, on revealing identity of the man who created the face shield he wore last Sunday: “I was thankful. It was Lee from Sunnie USA. I did find that out. Yeah, I appreciate it. It was just ironic that we got a package here at the office, looked at it and said, ‘Let’s just keep this around here. Maybe I will want to try this out one time.’ So, thank you to Lee from Sunnie USA.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)