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5 things we learned from Bears coaches

Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, cornerbacks coach/passing game coordinator Jon Hoke and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower spoke to the media Thursday at Halas Hall. Here are five things we learned from those sessions:

(1) Getsy felt that rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent played a solid game last Sunday against the Chargers and will learn from his mistakes.

In his second NFL start, Bagent completed 25 of 37 passes for 232 yards but threw two interceptions. The first pick came on a pass intended for DJ Moore.

"I think Tyson played a solid game," Getsy said. "It was a really good experience for him. That's a defense that challenges you in a lot of different ways, both with their personnel and then [coach Brandon] Staley does a good job with the scheme stuff. That's the first interception. They kind of got [Bagent]. They do an unconventional cover-two and DJ, been in the league, experienced, sees it, converts the proper way, and Tyson just didn't on that particular one.

"Our defense does the same stuff to us, but he [didn't] get those first-team reps through training camp, so he didn't get that opportunity. But he'll learn from that. He's a guy who doesn't usually make the same mistake twice. I thought he did a really nice job from that play, and then bouncing back, he did a really nice job."

(2) The offense is preparing in practice to play in what's arguably the NFL's loudest stadium Sunday, the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

"Whether you're in a walkthrough, whether you're in practice reps," Getsy said, "you've got to create that noise so that you can continue to work on your hand signals and all that stuff like that and make sure everyone's on the same page with the cadences and when we're getting to it, when we make adjustments and all that stuff.

"It's just repetition, and you've got to make sure that every single rep—walkthrough rep or live rep—has got to be in that type of mentality, that type of environment and that kind of process for you through the week so by the time you get to Saturday, you feel really good with your process."

(3) Hoke has seen continued improvement from rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

The second-round pick from Miami has started all eight games this season, registering 49 tackles and five pass breakups. He also has been assessed five penalties—most on the defense—including three for pass interference.

"He's learned already," Hoke said. "He's improved. The one thing he hasn't done lately in the last few weeks, he hasn't given up explosive plays. [Raiders receiver] Davante Adams had [seven] catches for [57] yards. As long as you're not giving up explosives and you're in position and then you make the plays that you need to make … I thought the Vegas game was a really good game because he had two key third-down stops in that game and one of them was the first third down of the game on Davante Adams when he made the play on the slant.

"It's going to be good play/bad play, and you just hope he learns from all those plays. But you can see him progressing. Yes, he's going to get targeted because he's a rookie, and yes, he's going to get targeted because Jaylon Johnson is playing at such a high level on the other side. All those things factor in. At the end of the day, he's going to learn from all of it. As any football player in the National Football League that plays a long time, you're going to have good and bad, and as long as you continue to learn from that, you will improve."

(4) Hoke explained why the Bears haven't had Johnson, their top cornerback, shadow their opponents' top receivers this season.

"That happened a lot more back when nobody motioned," Hoke said. "All they have to do is put him over here and motion him over there. If you're an offensive guy and all of the sudden he's running with that guy, does that tell you what the coverage is? It tells me I'm in man, right?

"Now what they do, too, they put him in different spots. Back in the day, you always had the big X and the Z. Well, now they'll take that big X—let's take [the Buccaneers'] Mike Evans for example—they'll put him in the slot. The zone coverage, not all corners play inside. So, 'OK, I'm going to shadow him. But now I've got to go play outside, So what coverage does that tell me I'm in? They're in zone.'"

(5) Hightower is preparing the Bears' special-teams unit to face Rashid Shaheed, who leads the NFL in punt returns with a 16.2-yard average that includes a 76-yard touchdown return against the Packers.

"The guy is extremely elusive," Hightower said. "He does a great job of getting to all of the footballs as well. Rarely does a ball drop on the ground. They have an unbelievable unit, which helps him as well. Taysom Hill is an All-Pro. J.T. Gray has been an All-Pro. This is going to be a big challenge for us.

"Rasheed has speed, he has vision, but he has elusiveness which is probably better than most we have seen and most around the league. He's a dangerous player. He's obviously a good offensive player, too. He can take the top off the defense as I heard our defense talk about this week too."

The Bears were back on the practice fields at Halas Hall Thursday to continue their preparation for Sunday's road game against the New Orleans Saints.

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