How will Chicago Bears handle big dose of adversity?

Almost every professional sports team is going to have to deal with adversity at some point during the regular season.

Rare, indeed, is the nearly perfect season.

Well, that time has come with a full head of steam for the Chicago Bears, who have gone from first place in the NFC North to a playoff bubble team after losing three straight to fall to 5-4.

It's a spot the team is quite familiar with, having lost four straight last season after a 3-1 start. The Bears then won four of five to give themselves a shot at the playoffs.

Coach Matt Nagy is hopeful that his squad can draw upon that experience to right the ship before this season sinks into oblivion.

"I want our players and coaches to understand, man, this is where you truly get tested," Nagy said one day after the Bears lost 24-17 at Tennessee. "I've said it over and over and over - and you probably get tired of it - but for us right now we've got to be able to stay the course. As hard as that is ... that's what's real.

"You have two directions you can go. You can either be Debbie Downer and be upset (and) be negative all the time. Or you can use it as motivation."

There's no better time than to do just that when the Bears host Minnesota (3-5) on Monday night. Then there's a road game at Green Bay (6-2) and home games against Detroit (3-5) and Houston (2-6).

So as dire as things seem right now, a 3-1 stretch would go a long way in securing a playoff berth.

Two of the most interesting developments from Monday's news conferences included:

• Nagy hinting that he might relinquish play-calling duties.

• The news that RB David Montgomery is in concussion protocol.

On the play-calling front, Nagy said: "I meant what I said yesterday. We'll see where that goes. We will make the best decision possible."

He then paused and added: "In all honesty and with all due respect, if anything was to happen I'm not sure that you guys would know. I think you can understand that part."

As for Montgomery, it's far too soon to know if he'll miss Monday's game. The second-year back has just 472 yards on 131 carries for a 3.6-yard average, but his struggles are in large part due to the fact that he's running behind a wretched offensive line.

If Montgomery can't go, we can probably expect to see more Cordarrelle Patterson and Ryan Nall. Lamar Miller, who remains on the practice squad, also would seem to be an option. Miller has run for 5,864 yards in his seven-year career, but he missed the 2019 season after tearing his ACL in a preseason game.

"He's obviously getting more confidence in the knee - going out there and making cuts and stuff," said running backs coach Charles London. "I've got some experience with him - I coached him for two years in Houston - so I know what Lamar at 100 percent looks like.

"We've been watching him and he's really progressing and he's doing well. Hopefully he can contribute soon."

If there's a sliver of good news offensively, it's that the wide receivers continue to shine. Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney and Anthony Miller caught a combined 17 passes for 183 yards against the Titans. All of them continue to come down with receptions even when they're covered.

That ought to give Nick Foles more confidence as time goes on - as long as the protection is good. Or even decent.

And although Foles has been far from perfect, make no mistake - Nagy is happy to have a heady veteran at the helm at a time like this.

"Shoot, the beauty of having him on this team is the experience that he has and the highs and lows that he's been through," Nagy said. "We're in that adverse situation as an offense where we're going to look to our leaders to be able to step up and make big plays at big times. ...

"One of his strengths is dealing with adversity, and that's what I look forward to him doing as we move forward."