LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Senior writer Larry Mayer sits down with general manager Jerry Angelo to discuss the most pressing issues involving the Bears every Wednesday exclusively on ChicagoBears.com.

This feature will provide you with inside information directly from Jerry that you can’t get anywhere else. Jerry will candidly discuss relevant issues affecting the Bears that fans are most interested in.

How do you explain what happened to the Bears in Cincinnati?

I don’t want to take anything away from the Bengals because they are a very good offensive football team with a great receiver, a great quarterback and a running back who’s having a Pro Bowl year. But what really surprised me was that we weren’t able to make the needed adjustments in terms of slowing them down or stopping them. We let that go really throughout four quarters. We couldn’t slow them down and make some stops or even force them to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown to keep us in the game where we could have some hope. That surprised me. I didn’t expect to see that.

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer passed for five touchdowns in last Sunday's 45-10 rout of the Bears.

Do you have a problem with the effort on defense?

One thing I want to make clear is that it wasn’t an effort issue. We played hard on defense. I don’t question anybody’s willingness to get to the ball. Defense starts with effort, and that’s always been and will continue to be one of our staples as a defense. We weren’t disciplined enough in some areas. Against a very good quarterback with seasoned receivers like the Bengals have, you can’t afford to play that way. Sometimes effort will cover up for some of your mistakes, but not last Sunday. You have to be razor-sharp and obviously we weren’t, and they were able to exploit that.

What was your impression of the Bears offense?

The offense wasn’t on the field long enough to make an impression. They couldn’t get into a  rhythm to really evaluate. When they were able to get something going, we’d have a penalty and/or an interception. Because we were trying to play catch-up, maybe guys were trying to do too much. We weren’t able to get into any flow. When you’re down 14-0 in the first quarter, your game plan is altered. 

Does a loss like that force you to re-evaluate what you thought you knew about your team?

It only counts as one loss. That’s the good news. There are things to be learned any time you play, but particularly when you lose. I think you really do a little bit more soul-searching when you lose than when you win. There’s more anxiety after a loss, so you’re going to scrutinize yourself a bit more. You want to caution yourself not to do it to a fault, where you’re too hard on yourself. I don’t want to go too far into this, but certainly there are things that need to be corrected and things that we need to do better. Do we need to look at some personnel? Yeah, we do. There’s some of that going on as you’ll see Sunday. But we can’t overreact. I feel very confident that Lovie [Smith] and his staff see that and will get the wrongs righted. We’re going to focus on what we can control, and that’s Sunday’s game against Cleveland. 

Lovie Smith revealed Monday that Tommie Harris didn’t play against the Bengals due to a coach’s decision and not because of his knee. What light can you shed on Tommie’s situation?

The bottom line is that Tommie’s fine. Tommie had some additional treatments, which are not uncommon for players to have during the season, and Lovie chose to rest him. Let me make something very clear, something that I think has clouded people's thinking because of how it’s been reported by some in the media. When we say a player is healthy, it doesn’t mean he’s necessarily 100 percent healthy. There are many players who play in  this league that aren’t. It’s a violent sport. Players get injured, they recover, and they continue to play with a degree of pain. That’s our sport; it’s not uncommon. There’s a big difference in playing with pain and playing with an injury. Dan Hampton played here for 12 years and had 10 knee surgeries, five on each knee, and I’m sure he played with some pain and discomfort. We never have nor ever will play a player who is injured because it puts him at further risk and also curtails his play. So when we say Tommie’s healthy, we’re saying that there’s no risk of further injury based on what he’s had and we also are saying he can physically play to or close to his potential or why else would we have paid him if that wasn’t the case?  Let's put that to bed and focus on his play. I can’t wait to get to Sunday to see him and our team play.