Bears' Trubisky had no problem with Nagy's strong words. He hopes to limit turnovers going forward

Put up or shut up.

That was pretty much Matt Nagy's edict after the Bears' demoralizing loss at Green Bay on Sunday extended his team's losing streak to five.

And judging from interviews we've heard over the past few days, it seems like the head coach's strong words were well received.

Two of the more pointed comments came from wide receivers coach Mike Furrey and quarterback Mitch Trubisky.

“When you sign up to play in this league, you're signing up to do something that a lot of people don't get to do,” said Furrey, who played for seven seasons and wasn't always guaranteed a roster spot. “You can talk about urgency and putting your back against the wall right now.

“But you know what? That should be your freaking mindset when you walk in this league. You shouldn't have to be encouraged to do this in Week 10 or Week 11.”

Trubisky, who turned the ball over three times against the Packers, concurred and said Nagy's message was well received.

“Bottom line, if you're a competitor you don't have to be told (anything) after five straight losses,” Trubisky said. “Everything we do we're trying to win. That's the main goal.

“So if you're not coming in here with a chip on your shoulder, something's wrong and we've got to check you. We're continuing to do that throughout the locker room, making sure everyone's locked in.”

Now, will all of this talk actually translate to better results?

Because believe it or not, the Bears are hardly out of the playoff picture.

A win against the hapless, flailing Lions would put Nagy's squad back to .500 at 6-6. Then come the suddenly short-handed Texans, who have had two players suspended for PED use. Then the Vikings, who are 2-4 at home. Then Jacksonville, which has 1 win.

Of course, if the Bears are to turn this around, they need Trubisky to play much better than he did against the Packers, when he went 26-for-46 for 242 yards with 3 TD passes, 2 interceptions and a fumble that was returned for a score.

He knows that. He gets it. Now, it's just a matter of doing it.

Trubisky's first turnover came on the Bears' second possession when he heaved a deep ball that was intended for Darnell Mooney. The speedy but undersized wideout got bumped off his route at the wrong time, however, and Trubisky's throw sailed into the arms of Darnell Savage Jr.

“You have a mindset of, ‘I'm gonna take care of the football. I'm not gonna force things,' ” Trubisky said. “But you get into a game — especially early on when we have a play called that we wanted to take a shot on all week — (and) I take the shot and the defense made a better play than we did.”

From there, things just snowballed.

Trubisky lost that fumble. He threw another interception. His footwork started suffering. His decision making was off at times, as was his throwing accuracy.

“It's definitely frustrating, but (sometimes) it just happens in football,” Trubisky said of the turnovers. “You've just got to let it go. You're going to have those throughout the flow of a season and in games.

“It's a common theme with quarterbacks: You have a better chance of winning when you take care of the football. So it's very obvious to say. You've just got to go out there and do it.”

As for the few positives, Trubisky thought the first- and second-down efficiency was solid, the run game opened up, and there was better urgency and tempo in and out of the huddle.

He also was appreciative of Nagy and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor soliciting his input in the game plan. Unfortunately for all of them, it was a plan that had to be scrapped by the second quarter.

“We had things in the offense that I liked and I was comfortable with,” Trubisky said. “We had good communication with coach Lazor throughout the game.

“Overall positive, but we just can't have the game get out of balance that way so we can stay within our game plan and just continue to execute our offense.”

That ought to be easier to accomplish against the Lions, who have allowed 32.6 points per game in their last five contests — four of which were losses.

“We just have to continue to do the little things that make a difference on a daily basis — like attention to detail, coming in ready to work, working hard at practice, being locked in,” Trubisky said. “Just going out there doing your job. Still making it fun. Bringing passion to practice. Keeping the energy up.

“Little things like that that really make a difference in a winning team. ... I think we (need to) focus on doing our jobs, going 1-0 and continue to stay positive and just overall believe that we can change it around. It takes one game.”