Apparently you can never be too old, too proud or, in the Bears’ case, too 13-3 to learn.
That’s why “back to the basics” has become not merely a catch phrase this week but a game plan before the game plan, a bye-week luxury, yes, but also a necessary step for a team that believes a return to fundamentals will improve its overall effort.
“No question,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said, “especially the way we ended that last game. Everybody saw it. We didn’t play like we’re capable of and a lot of it had to do with our techniques and fundamentals. That’s critical.
“[Future opponents] all have good players too. They have good schemes. They all do a good job, so it boils down to who’s going to execute, and execution is all about good technique and fundamentals, everyone just doing their job.”
But what does that mean, exactly?
Quarterback Rex Grossman has spoken often this season about simplifying his job.
“For me, it’s just step up in the pocket and make the right reads and be decisive,” he said.
To the offensive linemen, Fred Miller said, “what that means is just making sure you do all the little things right. Make sure you have your steps in the proper place, proper angles, proper pad level and placement . . . the little things that turn into big things later on.
“In the pros, it’s nothing but fundamentals. On other levels you can get by on athleticism alone. In the pros you can’t because everyone has athleticism. Then it goes back to who has the best technique, and normally the guys who win their battles are the ones with the best technique and who do it on a consistent basis.”
To running back Thomas Jones, it’s also making sure those “little things” add up, beginning with “make sure you make the right read,” he said.
“The little things are what make players great because once you press too much to try to make a play or make something happen, you’re getting out of what you’re supposed to do and getting out of the scheme of what’s going on and you miss opportunities,” Jones said. “It means getting back to the basics [with] the game plan, the playbook, the schemes, your individual techniques.
“Those little things matter, especially at this point in the season, because a lot of guys get caught up in the hype of the games. It’s the playoffs, and everyone wants to make a big play.”
Receiver Mark Bradley said the coaches have emphasized “going back to our fundamentals of what we started off with” and minimized scheming.
“The basic offense we started off with has gotten us this far, so trying to deviate from that is just like saying it’s a moot point,” Bradley said. “The coaching staff getting us back to the basics is going to help us a lot.”
Indeed, as they wrapped up their work Thursday morning, Bears coach Lovie Smith praised his players for a “great practice.” Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said the training camp-like atmosphere will help the team’s confidence level.
“Now we’ll go watch the film and we’ll see that the mistakes are limited and we’re feeling very good about it,” he said. “So you always have to go back to the basics.”
While it’s customary for the Bears to go through similar drills during their week off during the season, this one, Rivera points out, is a particular luxury.
“[During the season] you know you’ve got an opponent,” he said. “We don’t have an opponent, so really it’s our defense against our offense.”
Pitting the No. 1 units against each other is another training-camp tactic that gets high marks from Bears players.
“You have the best guys on defense against the best guys on offense so you know mentally you have to step your game up a little bit more,” Jones said. “It’s kind of fun and it pushes you. That’s why we have great training camps–we have a very competitive team and we push each other really hard, and I think that’s why we’ve been so good the past couple of years. Coach Smith really wants us to compete in practice.”
For Grossman, practicing against the NFL’s fifth-rated defense is welcome preparation for whomever the Bears face next weekend.
“You should prepare and understand what the defense is trying to do, at least get a good idea,” he said. “Once the ball is snapped, just read and react because they can do tons of different looks and tons of different defenses and this week is a good time to get some reps of not knowing what’s coming and just read and react and throw to the appropriate guy.”
The Bears’ secondary, meanwhile, is fine-tuning its Cover-2 techniques.
“Re-routing, Cover-2 drops and being able to break efficiently,” cornerback Nathan Vasher said. “Just backpedaling and breaking and finishing on the ball is more or less all we’ve been doing.”
Like the offense, the Bears’ defense is stressing a return to the basics.
“We’re talking about hand placement, first step, initial read, stepping downhill, initial pass read, turning, reversing, everything,” Rivera said.
Defensive end Alex Brown said the self-examination “is what we should do anyway. A lot of things get overlooked when you win. . . . Everything is supposedly OK, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that. You did some things wrong, so you have to pay attention to that stuff.
“Even though you make a play, even though you made a tackle in the backfield, maybe you went through the B-gap and you were supposed to go to C-gap. You made the play, but get in your gap because that’s what the other 10 guys on the field are expecting you to do.
“It’s just paying attention to detail, understanding that this is a great opportunity right here and we’ve been fortunate enough to be in this situation two years in a row. Let’s make the best of it.”
———-
misaacson@tribune.com
