Rozner: Parkey's long week ends perfectly for Bears

It was very late Sunday night when Cody Parkey again faced the enemy.

No, not the Vikings.

It was three reporters with pads and pens at first, followed by the assorted microphones and finally the hot lights and cameras.

In an otherwise very relaxed and happy Bears locker room after their win over Minnesota, Parkey was grilled about his pregame routine, his midweek practice under the helicopters at Soldier Field, his game-clinching kick and finally the extra-point decisions of Matt Nagy.

Parkey took many deep breaths during the few minutes he spoke. He looked relieved, as much as happy, that he had gone 3-for-3 kicking field goals, but it was his 48-yarder with 2:52 left in the game that meant the most to him and the Bears.

Nagy called time out on fourth-and-4 from the Minnesota 30 and considered going for it or perhaps punting, and ultimately decided to let Parkey do his job.

While the head coach debated the options, Parkey - the object of so much derision after repeatedly nailing the uprights the week before - jogged out onto the field and waited.

"I'm just out there swinging my leg. If they call me … ," Parkey said, unable to finish the sentence. "I was thinking about nothing. I just go out there and picture myself doing it."

The kick was as good as gold, as it were, and the entire team swarmed him on the field as he put the Bears ahead by 11 in the final minutes.

"That was pretty cool," Parkey said. "They saw me down last week and they picked me up. That's really special.

"It was a lot of fun. Great snap and great hold from my guys, and I made the kick."

Nagy can't very well say that he doesn't believe in his kicker, but if he had complete faith there would have been no hesitation.

"That wasn't an easy one," Nagy said. "You want to stay positive. You want to think, 'Hey, we make the field goal … and it essentially gives you a great chance to win the game.'

"(If) you go for it, stay aggressive because of where it was in the field, and you don't get it, now they get the ball. Or you take a delay of game and you punt the ball.

"So those are tough decisions, but a lot of times you go with your gut reaction. You talk to your coaches and talk it through in that quick time right there.

"In the end, ultimately, we sit here and we talk about being aggressive. We sit here and talk about being a family and trusting one another, and I'm just really, really happy for everybody on that field goal team.

"You could see how proud our guys were of (Parkey) and the rest of those guys. I think that's something special there."

It might have been a turning point for Parkey, and - in some respects - the Bears.

When an athlete comes out the other side of something Parkey just endured, it can go either way. Survive and improve, or disappear.

Parkey doesn't sound like a man planning to go anywhere.

"It was rewarding, definitely rewarding," Parkey said. "It's hard at times, going through stuff good or bad. I try to stay even keel good or bad because the more I play, the more big kicks I'm gonna hit.

"We just try to minimize the bad stuff that happens, but this team did an amazing job today helping me out. They make sure I'm up. Awesome team, awesome coaches.

"This is my fifth year in the NFL. I've made big kicks. I know I can. I'm just going to continue to try my best."

As for extra points, the Bears were 2-for-2 in 2-point conversions Sunday night, and Nagy isn't sure what he will decide moving forward.

"We just felt like we had some good stuff down there in that area," Nagy said. "We've had some carry-over the last couple weeks, so play-wise, why not use them?

"If you do (convert), it kind of makes the game change a little bit in regards to what they've got to do on their end when they score.

"So it's just a decision that we decided to make. We knew that was something we were going to do, and who knows? I don't know.

"We'll go back and forth on whether we want to keep doing that or not."

Parkey is in no position to question his boss and he has no intention of doing so.

"Surprised? No," Parkey said. "He's the head coach. He can do what he wants."

He didn't say it in a defiant manner. Just the opposite, actually. He sounds like a kicker happy to have a job.

"Whatever he wants me to do," Parkey said with a big smile. "Two points are better than 1."

With all the tricks the Bears employ in the red zone, maybe they'll keep going for 2, but as Nagy always says, everything looks good when it works, and everyone looks bad when it doesn't.

Perhaps unsustainable, Parkey will be ready if the coach decides to start kicking extra points again.

"This game has highs and lows. I don't know," Parkey said, shaking his head. "I've been through it all. So I'm just very grateful for this opportunity.

"God is good. Luckily we went out there and executed to the best of our ability today."

As Parkey pointed out, it's a short week and there won't be much time to think about anything before the Bears see the Lions on Thanksgiving.

In this case and for this kicker, there's nothing bad about that.