3 things we heard from Chicago Bears players, including reaction to James Daniels’ viral play and being ‘almost sort of a fan’ of Aaron Rodgers

Chicago Bears players enjoyed their 20-9 upset victory over the Las Vegas Raiders and now are moving on to Green Bay Packers week.

The Packers, who sit atop the NFC North at 4-1, visit Soldier Field on Sunday. As the Bears gear up for the next installment of the rivalry, here are three things we heard Tuesday from the players.

1. Cody Whitehair said the offensive linemen have watched the viral clip of right guard James Daniels on repeat.

On a Khalil Herbert run late in the second quarter Sunday, Daniels charged forward to block Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman. As Perryman jumped, Daniels slammed him to the ground, while Herbert darted to Daniels’ right for a 9-yard gain.

The Bears scored on Damien Williams’ 4-yard touchdown three plays later, and Daniels’ play had social media buzzing.

Whitehair said Daniels had “a heck of a game” to help a Bears offensive line that paved the way for 143 rushing yards and limited the Raiders to two sacks of rookie QB Justin Fields. The collective performance, including the way Herbert and Williams filled in for injured David Montgomery, has the Bears excited about where they are at on offense just two weeks after they netted 47 yards in a 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Whitehair said the Bears took on a mentality of “relentless effort” to turn things around.

“It just comes back to the team taking what we did collectively against the Browns and being like ‘We don’t want this to be who we are,’” Whitehair said. “And you can tell the mentality of the whole team, not just offensively, but the whole team changed after we go back into practice after the Browns game. And that’s what I’ve seen moving forward — a shift in mentality, the team taking just ownership of what we put out on the field. We knew it wasn’t good enough. You can tell on the practice field guys are more focused and ready to go.”

2. Tashaun Gipson said he’s ‘almost sort of a fan’ when he watches Aaron Rodgers on film.

After the Bears held Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to 206 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, they face the familiar challenge of stopping Rodgers, who threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns for the Packers against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. He has 10 touchdown passes to three interceptions this year.

In two wins over the Bears in 2020, Rodgers threw eight touchdown passes with no interceptions.

“He’s one of the few quarterbacks that truly has no flaws to his game,” Gipson said. “He can make every throw. He’s mobile enough to get out of the pocket. He’s smart. He doesn’t turn the ball over. You’re almost sort of a fan when you watch him on tape. The biggest thing with him is those small errors. Last year when we played him in January, we had an opportunity for an interception. When you get those opportunities, because they’re few and far between … you’ve got to capitalize on it.”

The Bears’ interception Sunday came on a nice play by sixth-year veteran DeAndre Houston-Carson, who sprinted in from behind Zay Jones to grab the ball. It was the second career interception for Houston-Carson, who is a core special teams player and also played 17 snaps on defense in Week 5.

Gipson admires Houston-Carson as a person — “I’d let him babysit my kids 10 times out of 10,” he said — but also as a clutch contributor.

“To see guys like that come in and step up huge for us, it’s always big,” Gipson said. “When his number’s called, you know DH is gonna do what he needs to do. I don’t think he gets enough credit.”

3. Allen Robinson continues to focus on contributing any way he can.

With the Bears leaning on the run game the last two weeks, Robinson’s opportunities continue to be limited for the first time in his Bears career. He had four catches on five targets for 32 yards Sunday and has 17 catches on 29 targets for 181 yards and a touchdown this year.

His Week 5 game included a 12-yard catch on third-and-7 on the Bears’ second touchdown drive.

Robinson is playing on the franchise tag and could be looking for a big free-agent contract this offseason, so he often gets asked how he’s handling the lower numbers as Fields settles into the offense. He gave another professional response Tuesday.

“I just try to contribute to help win games,” Robinson said. “Being able to put everything else to the side. Figuring out how to capitalize on the opportunities that I have when I do have them. And being able to come away with those, whether that’s gaining a pass interference or something on a 50-yard play or a 20-yard play. Or being able to catch a ball to move the chains on second down or third down. Or blocking in the run game. Just trying to do whatever is asked of me to try to put this team and put this offense in the best situation to win games.”

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