One day after they were eliminated from playoff contention, the Bears have no plans to bench any of their healthy players in the season finale.
Coach Matt Eberflus confirmed as much Monday, calling the season finale against the Packers a “normal game for us.” It’s anything but, of course — it’s the most famous rivalry game in the sport, with the Packers’ playoff spot on the line. That’s why it always seemed unlikely the Bears would make anyone a healthy scratch for Week 18 after they were eliminated late Sunday.
Receiver Darnell Mooney missed the Falcons game because he was in the concussion protocol. Star cornerback Jaylon Johnson left the game with a shoulder injury that he would only describe afterward as sore. Eberflus offered no update on either player Monday.
The NFL waited until after the Packers’ win against the Vikings on Sunday night to announce dates and times for Week 18. Tight end Cole Kmet, who was limited to 13 snaps because of a knee injury, said Sunday afternoon he was rooting for the Bears to avoid a Saturday matchup to give him extra time to get healthy.
“One more day,” he said.
He’ll get it.
A fake?
Three minutes into the third quarter, the Bears faced fourth-and-goal from the Falcons’ 4-yard line. They lined up in a shotgun with DJ Moore and Tyler Scott split right — and kicker Cairo Santos and punter Trenton Gill split left.
“I would say that I’m not going to comment on that particular formation,” Eberflus said playfully Monday.
The Falcons were confused — and justifiably so. They burned their first timeout of the second half, and the Bears ran out their field-goal unit to make a 22-yarder.
That was a good result, even if the Bears didn’t get a chance to run a trick play.
“There could be a lot of different things that you could be pleased with there, for sure,” Eberflus said.
Pass rush coming
The Packers’ pass rush against the Vikings must have gotten the Bears’ attention. They had 13 players credited with at least one quarterback pressure, which is tied for the most players to do so in one game on any team this season. They pressured the Vikings on a whopping 50% of their dropbacks; six players combined to sack the Vikings four times.
“I think you’ve got to give hats off to [coordinator] Joe Barry and our defensive staff for coming up with a great game plan,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I know he’s taken a lot of heat lately, and again, it’s one game, but I was happy for him, our staff, our players to go out there and put on a performance against, I think, a really good offense. I was just really proud of those guys.”
This and that
The Bears will hold a light practice Wednesday and Thursday split between individual field work and a walkthrough. The schedule change kept players fresh Sunday after they made the move last week, Eberflus said.
“The performance staff said that was really good for us in terms of the [speed and endurance] numbers, and we like where our guys are going into this week,” Eberflus said.
• The Bears used swing tackle Larry Borom three times as an extra blocker who was eligible to catch passes. After the debacle of declaring eligible blockers in the Cowboys-Lions game Saturday, referee Adrian Hill announced Borom’s number three times each time he reported as eligible.
• The Bears signed rookie offensive lineman Jerome Carvin, who spent time with the Chiefs during training camp, to their practice squad.
