


Bears
5 things to watch as Bears play Jaguars
in must-win scenario

The Chicago Bears will try to keep their playoff hopes alive when they play 1-13 Jacksonville on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
Each of the last two games this season are must-wins for the 7-7 Bears as they take aim at the NFC’s seventh playoff seed. Meanwhile, the Jaguars will try to ignore fans’
As the Bears prepare for Week 16, here’s a snapshot look at the game.
Trubisky said this week he has felt an energizing combination of focus and confidence in the huddle recently. At practice and in games.
Production begets self-assurance, which often begets more production. The snowball has started to roll.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum right now,” Trubisky said. “It all starts with the way we’re practicing. And it really starts with our mindset up front — how these guys are attacking practice, our tempo in and out of the huddle. We’ve been putting together some really good practices and it’s showing on game day. We’re going out there and playing clean, playing smart.”
In last week’s road win over Minnesota, the offense did a terrific job avoiding mistakes. The inventory: Just one penalty. One sack taken. Only one turnover. Two runs for negative yardage.
Once again, there was a flow to everything, which the Bears need to work hard to sustain.
“I feel like it’s definitely sustainable,” coach Matt Nagy said. “… You want to be able to keep these defenses on their heels. And these last several weeks, we’ve been able to do that. You feel it, you see it.
“Whether it’s some of the things we’ve been able to do with tempo or whether it’s the scheme or it’s just these players making plays, it’s working right now. Knowing that, we have to make sure we stay locked in.”
Robinson attended high school at Rockford Lutheran and is the IHSA all-time leader with 9,045 rushing yards and 158 touchdowns. He went on to rank second in Illinois State history with 4,444 rushing yards and 44 rushing touchdowns.
Marrone was even more intrigued, and Robinson’s work in the preseason earned him the Week 1 start.
“James Robinson is first of all an outstanding person and an unbelievable pro for a guy that was a free agent,” Marrone said. “I mean, how he took advantage of opportunity, how he’s never changed, how he prepared every week, how he’s focused on team — it’s really a breath of fresh air when you’re around someone like him.”
In 14 starts, Robinson now holds the record for an undrafted rookie in the common-draft era with 1,414 yards from scrimmage, and he is tied with Phillip Lindsay and Dominic Rhodes for the most touchdowns with 10. He has had four games of 100 or more rushing yards and also had 83 yards receiving against the Miami Dolphins in September.
He has been limited with an ankle injury this week, but Marrone told Jacksonville reporters he expects him to play Sunday. And defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said the Bears will have a challenge in facing the “tough, tough kid” who averages 2.6 yards after contact.
“Low center of gravity, really strong between the tackles, can bounce it outside,” Pagano said. “He does a nice job in protection. He can catch it out of the backfield. They hit him on checkdowns. They’ll throw some screens to him. So really good all-around back. Again, he’s a straight-ahead, no fair dodging type of guy, and he’s not going to lose yards very often.”
Quinn, whom the Bears
So it was a big moment when Quinn circled behind Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff and pulled down quarterback Kirk Cousins’ arm as he and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks brought Cousins to the ground. The Vikings recovered the fumble but were forced to punt.
Pagano was happy to see Quinn make the play but also praised the full-team effort on it.
“It was awesome,” Pagano said. “We always talk about rush and coverage and disguise and all those things working together to make all those things happen. And so the coverage was phenomenal. We had bodies on everybody. He was going through his progressions. He had nowhere to go. He had to hold the ball, and that’s all we have to do in the back end is to get these quarterbacks to hold the ball for one second more, half a second. And (Quinn) had a great rush around the edge, beat the tackle, came around the top of the pocket, nowhere to step up, good push inside, held the ball, had nowhere to go and then got the strip-sack.”
Pagano said he thought Quinn played his best game as a Bear, start to finish. It was a needed development for a player who has had just two sacks, four quarterback hits, 16 tackles and three forced fumbles in 13 games this season.
The Baltimore Ravens sacked Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II five times in Week 15. The Bears have 10 sacks over the last two weeks and will look to build on that production whether the Jaguars choose Minshew or veteran Mike Glennon to be their quarterback this week.
He sprung to his feet and flexed.
In his third season, Nichols continues to show signs of significant growth. Production-wise, he has five sacks, seven tackles for loss, 12 quarterback pressures and an interception.
None of this has been a surprise to his much more-heralded teammates on defense. A few weeks ago, defensive end Akiem Hicks again offered a testimonial for Nichols’ eagerness to learn, a trait that has been present since his first practice as a rookie.
“One of the things that attracted me to Bilal from the beginning is that he had the right mindset to approach the game,” Hicks said. “He wanted to be better. He would be on my hip at practice, like, ‘What are we doing? How did you do this?’ He sought the knowledge. To now see it coming out on the field, it’s beautiful. It makes you smile, man.”
This week, Khalil Mack piped in with added praise.
“One thing about Bilal that I admire the most is his willingness to listen and take those small little critiques that you give him and use it to his advantage,” Mack said. “He’s one of those guys who listens and he works at it.”
Nichols has enjoyed seeing his hard work and quest to learn pay off on game days.
“I feel like I’m playing the best football of my career right now,” he said. “… I’ve been locked in all season. But I’ve been able to really hit a groove [recently]. I feel like everything is coming together.”
This will be the third straight game Skrine has missed and the second straight for Johnson.
Tight end Demetrius Harris is doubtful with a foot injury.
Listed as questionable are defensive linemen Akiem Hicks (ankle), Bilal Nichols (knee) and Mario Edwards Jr. (hamstring), outside linebacker Khalil Mack (shoulder), wide receiver Allen Robinson (hamstring), kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson (knee), cornerback Duke Shelley (knee/foot) and safety Deon Bush (foot).
For the Jaguars, Robinson is listed as questionable with an ankle injury, wide receiver Collin Johnson is out with a hamstring injury and cornerback Sidney Jones IV is out with an Achilles injury.