Bears reflect on Sunday’s loss to Baltimore

The Bears made too many mistakes during a winnable game Sunday.

The offense showed inconsistency throughout the 30-16 loss to the Ravens while an injury-depleted defense couldn’t stop backup quarterback Tyler Huntley from moving the ball down the field.

Chicago will try to find answers this week as it prepares for another road game, this one Sunday in Cincinnati to play the Bengals. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Monday.

On Williams’ performance

Sunday was an up-and-down day for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense. While he showed promise at times, Williams struggled to make some critical plays on a day the offense needed to step up.

Williams’ biggest mistake came in the fourth quarter when he threw an interception from the Bears’ 4-yard line. He tried to fit the ball to wide receiver Rome Odunze, but Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins undercut the throw and picked off the pass. Baltimore went on to score to take a 10-point lead.

Head coach Ben Johnson said Williams should’ve checked down on the interception. The replay shows rookie running back Kyle Monangai was open for an easy first down.

Williams and the offense also struggled to score late in the game down 14 points, when they got down to the Baltimore 3 with a fresh set of downs. He completed a two-yard pass to Devin Duvernay and then failed on a quarterback sneak before Williams missed wide-open DJ Moore in the back of the end zone on fourth down.

“There was a couple times there on silent cadence that we weren’t quite as efficient as we needed to be on that last drive,” Johnson said. “That’s one that Caleb would like to have back. We’ve gotta hook up on that.”

Despite the inconsistent play, Johnson didn’t think it was all bad for Williams. He said Williams was very efficient with the football early and led many of the team’s explosive plays.

“There’s a couple that we talked about that need to be automatic here at this point, halfway through the season, that we missed on and so we’re going to keep on working through that process and I think we’re going to be in good shape,” Johnson said. “I did think he took a step forward here this week.”

On challenging players

Johnson challenged players during his postgame news conference Sunday after the Bears put together another undisciplined showing. Chicago committed 11 penalties for 79 yards that disrupted momentum in all three phases of the game.

“Now that we lost a game and penalties were a big culprit as to why we didn’t have the success we wanted to, I think it really opens Pandora’s box up here where, ‘hey, all hands on deck here, we’ve got to get this thing fixed,’” Johnson said Monday. “We’ve been harping on it as a coaching staff and when it results in a loss, I think it just magnifies the issue that was at hand.”

It wasn’t the first time Johnson challenged the Bears since he took over as coach in the offseason. Johnson made headlines when he told the first-team offense to get off the field when it couldn’t get set up correctly during one of the first practices of training camp. He also challenged players after a Week 2 blowout loss to the Detroit Lions, saying they weren’t practicing at a championship level.

Johnson wants leaders to call out other players if they see someone isn’t practicing to standards.

“I think they’re as fed up with it as everyone is in the building, and so they understand it’s just not what good football teams do,” Johnson said. “And I think they’re going to take ownership of it. I think we’re going to be just fine.”

On injuries

Johnson announced second-round pick defensive tackle Shemar Turner tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will miss the remainder of the season. Turner was hurt in the second quarter.

The rookie has had tough injury luck early in his career. Turner hurt his ankle during the first training camp practice and missed a majority of camp. The injury delayed the start of Turner’s career but he started to make an impact recently as the Bears used him more as a defensive end. He appeared in five games and had six tackles, two for a loss.

Johnson said defensive end Dominique Robinson would miss a few weeks with a high-ankle injury after he was hurt on Sunday’s opening kickoff. Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III was in concussion protocol while wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus was considered day-to-day with a knee injury.

Johnson said defensive end Austin Booker would be activated off injured reserve before his 21-day window to return closes Tuesday. Booker would remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season if he isn’t activated by the deadline.