Q. After injuring his wrist in the first half last Sunday against the Bengals, Aaron Rodgers wanted to go back into the game for the start of the second half. Why did you say no to him in that situation?
A. His desire to go back in the game was instant. The process for clearance was not. We had to take an MRI of his injury, make sure we had a good assessment of exactly what it is we were dealing with. They certainly had to go through options in terms of securing it or protecting it and some of those things. And just from a procedural standpoint, by the time you get through a lot of those things, we were deep into the second half. We only had two possessions. We managed those possessions very well. And so his desire and all of that logistically coming together were two different things.
Q. In situations where a starter is injured during a game, what do you need to hear from the medical staff before making a decision about whether he is allowed to go back into the game?
A. Clearance. Sometimes clearance is simply thumbs up or thumbs down. Sometimes clearance involves medical devices used to secure an area of the body. Sometimes it may require medicine, and it might take a certain amount of time for that medicine to kick in. And so clearance is a loose term that could mean a lot of things.
Q. So against the Bengals, you made the move to Mason Rudolph and he came through with the kind of performance that contributed to a victory. What skill-set does Rudolph have, or what skill-set did he develop, that helps him with that role?
A. It certainly can be developed, but it's also something that's innate, something that you've got to have. And he certainly has it. And he has an unwavering belief in self. I've been around him a number of years. Very rarely do we see him shaken or lacking in confidence, and that's certainly a good skill-set to have under those circumstances.
Q. What else is important for that role besides the confidence?
A. To me, confidence is the most significant thing. Certainly, he's a sharp guy, and he works with extreme urgency day-to-day. And I think that positions him for performance when he's maybe not getting a lot of significant reps. And so when you have a certain level of maturity, you're a smart enough guy that you can learn from watching others, or learn from a minimal number of snaps, I think those are the tangible things that potentially elevates performance under those circumstances. But I'll take the intangible things over the tangible things 100 percent of the time – a guy who doesn't blink, a guy who's capable of instilling confidence in others, a guy who has belief in self. And he checks those boxes.
Q. What do remember about him during the pre-draft process in 2018å when the team made him a No. 3 pick (76th overall) from Oklahoma State?
A. I remember going to Stillwater for his Pro Day and feeling his presence, not only at that Pro Day, but also on campus. He was a big man on campus, and he wore it in a natural way. Everybody liked him. His teammates liked him, service people around the program, etc., the ladies in the cafeteria. He had that intangible quality that you look for in the position, and you can't see that on tape. That's why we travel so much. That's why we put boots on the ground in places like Stillwater. If you spent any length of time in Stillwater that day, or the couple of days that I was there, you felt the intangible power of Mason Rudolph.
Q. So generally speaking, not just at quarterback, but in the in the pre-draft process leading up to a draft do when you're evaluating these guys, do you ever come away with the sense, for example if he's an offensive lineman, you say this guy could be a good swing tackle in the league, or this guy could be a situational pass rusher on defense, or this guy could be a backup? Do you come away with that sense, or do you just pick them and then see how it shakes out?
A. I think the draft grades themselves are an indication of what you asked. Oftentimes, globally speaking in the draft, people who are viewed as starters are picked in Rounds 1-through-3; core backups and core special teams players are drafted in Rounds 4-5; and guys who have a chance are drafted in Rounds 6-7. And so if you're talking about a guy identified as a swing tackle, he would have a fourth or fifth-round grade on him, for example. Now oftentimes guys outplay those prospects. But globally, I think everyone in our industry, they're giving you that indication based on draft grade.
Q. I have heard you use the phrase "football justice." What do you mean by football justice, and does it apply to James Pierre?
A. You get out what you put in. There are no shortcuts in this business. That's what I mean when I talk about football justice, and certainly James Pierre is a reflection of that. He's been through a lot. He came in as an undrafted rookie in the Covid draft of 2020. He made the roster as a young man under those circumstances. He's been a core special teams contributor. He's ascended at times as a defensive player, sometimes with less success than others. He has worked continually. Over that entire process he has been nothing but available. He's played more games than any Pittsburgh Steeler since he's been in this organization. And he's continually gotten better. I think this recent uptick in defensive participation is a reflection of just the overall trajectory of his process. And I view the totality of that as football justice, because he is a strong, mature professional who puts his hand in the pile daily, and he deserves the fruit of that labor. And he's getting it.
Q. During this last couple of weeks you had players in the concussion protocol. What can a player in the concussion protocol do during a regular season week. What has to happen for a player to progress through the protocol to a return-to-play.
A. It depends on where they are in the protocol. It gets to a certain point where physical exercise is a component of getting them through the protocol. And so most of the time, by the time you get to Wednesday, which is the first practice day, they're in that stage where they're working and they're seeing how they're feeling based on the result of that work, and then you kind of proceed from there. And so there are several stages. I'm not an expert on it. I follow the expert advice of our medical team, but usually by Wednesday if they're not in that working stage, it doesn't bode well for their participation the following week. Experience has taught me that. If they're in that stage where they're participants, you're taking it day by day. You wait to Thursday morning to see the results of Wednesday's work or how they responded to Wednesday's work. You repeat the process on Thursday. Hopefully it's moving in the right direction. They become asymptomatic. If they're asymptomatic, they take a concussion test at the end of Friday, and they generally get clearance, and that's generally how the process goes. But it's not a cookie-cutter in terms of fluidity. Some people move through it very fluidly. Some people don't. Each case is handled on an individual basis, but that's kind of the process.
Q. Today's opponent is the Chicago Bears, led by their first-year coach Ben Johnson, who had been the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. Do you see any Lions characteristics in these Bears?
A. I see a lot, which is not surprising. This is Ben's first head coaching opportunity, and so it makes sense that he would bring a lot of the principles that he's been around. He was a part of the turning around of a program. They've had a lot of success there, and he contributed to the trajectory of what's transpired in Detroit. Sure, there's a lot of lessons learned from that, but just looking at his tape specifically offensively, you certainly see some parallels. They've got a commitment to the running game. They've got a strong perimeter running game with D'Andre Swift, which is similar to what they did with Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. They do a nice job of taking care of the football. They're really schematically aggressive. They run a lot of gadget plays. They go for it on fourth down. All of the things that have come to be synonymous with what transpired in Detroit is really a reflection of Ben's philosophy, and he's taken it to Chicago.
Q. The Bears offense averages 146.6 yards rushing per game, which is second in the NFL; and they average 4.9 per attempt, which is sixth in the NFL. What is Ben Johnson's approach to challenging defenses with this running game?
A. It starts first and foremost with the perimeter. That rule the NFL changed several years ago that didn't allow people to cut cornerbacks on the perimeter is significant in terms of crack tosses and the perimeter running game. They've got a strong perimeter running game, just like they had in Detroit. That's an asset to him. He runs the ball on third down probably more than anybody in the National Football League, and it's an intentional schematic or strategic approach to football that adds to their running game prowess. He catches defenses in dime packages and so forth with small coverage people on the field, and they run the ball. And lastly, his commitment to gadgets. His No. 1 gadget is a reverse play. And when it hits, it hits, if you think about with Jameson Williams and some of those guys in Detroit over the last several years. Man, the amount of reverses and the amount of success they've had running reverses really aids their rushing attack.
Q. Chicago's defense leads the NFL in takeaways with 22, including being No. 1 in the league in interception percentage. Who are the Bears primary ballhawks, and how are they deployed?
A. Kevin Byard, a veteran, former Tennessee Titan, back there at safety. He's got big-time instincts. He's gotten the ball at every level of football that he's participated in. He's got 34 career interceptions in the National Football League. He's got five this year. He had 19 at Middle Tennessee State. It's interesting, the guys who intercept the ball, they generally have been intercepting the ball all their lives, and he's a reflection of that. But a lot of it has to do with some of the game circumstances that they're in as well. They get ahead on people. Their offense is performing very well. They're possessing the ball, they're running the ball, they're scoring points, and pressure burst pipes. Opposing offenses are having to take the calculated risk in the effort to fight back or to keep pace, and with that risk comes reward for the Bears, and they're reaping it.
Q. One of the things you said during your opening statement to your Tuesday news conference was, "Teams are revealing themselves this time of year." What is this team revealing about itself?
A. I like the depth of our collective. You're not going to get really far in this journey, particularly when you get into the single elimination portion of this journey, if you don't have great depth. Oftentimes, you can push through the regular season and not be challenged in that way, and as a leader, you're somewhat uneasy because it hasn't been tested. Sometimes you go through the journey and you've got a lot of injuries, and it gets tested, and it makes the journey more cumbersome. But as a leader, you find comfort in the fact that you know you have guys who are waiting in the ranks who are capable of delivering. Guys who have done so, who have experience in doing so, who have enough talent to do so. And that's one of the things that I'm feeling comfortable about with this group. We certainly have been tested from a depth standpoint in a lot of areas, and I like what I've seen from a lot of guys. You asked about James Pierre earlier, and he's the latest guy who's somewhat of a poster child of that initiative.
