Chicago Bears coordinators and assistant coaches met with reporters Thursday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest as they prepared for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.

There’s been a lot to address during this week despite Sunday’s thrilling win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Chicago blew a 14-point lead in the final minutes before quarterback Caleb Williams’ go-ahead touchdown throw to rookie tight end Colston Loveland saved the day. Special teams had its worst showing of the year, while the defense couldn’t stop the Bengals’ passing game.

Now the Bears will need to fix those mistakes in order to play a more complete game against a 2-7 Giants team. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Thursday.

On Caleb Williams playing a complete game

A year-and-a-half into his career, Williams has proven at least one thing: He’s clutch in big moments. Williams has converted three last-minute, game-winning drives for his team this year, none more dramatic than Sunday’s win.

Players and coaches have praised Williams’ poise and calmness in late-game situations this year. When the game speeds up for many players in those two-minute drills, everything seems to slow down for Williams. He makes big throws and picks up big runs in those tight situations that put his team in a spot to win.

The next step in Williams’ development will be to have him play that way throughout the game.

“He has great poise in those moments,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said at Halas Hall. “He has great leadership in those moments. Our guys feel really comfortable with him in those moments. And you’re trying to extract that and really every single down, that really is his comfortability in the offense, the operation, what we’re doing, and that just continues to grow and progress.”

The Bears saw growth in that regard Sunday. He made big plays to move the ball down the field and threw two touchdown passes in the second and third quarters. The offense also scored on a Brittain Brown rushing touchdown and a field goal.

Williams displayed that ability to put up a big throw in the third quarter. He responded to a delay of game the previous play when he darted a ball into Loveland for a 5-yard touchdown.

“It was great,” Doyle said. “It’s a really tight window in there, great anticipation. It’s really the look we had been practicing all week. We had seen a shot on film of that hook player not being able to get out underneath it, and so that was kind of how we had coached it. ... Just a great hookup between those two guys. And obviously a big moment in the game for us.”

On Austin Booker’s development

Bears coaches had waited all offseason to see whether defensive end Austin Booker could make an impact in his second season. They finally started to get an answer Sunday.

Booker made an impact in his first game of the season after he was activated off injured reserve. He forced a fumble on a sack in the fourth quarter that the Bears turned into a field goal. Booker also had a quarterback hit and two tackles as he built momentum as the game went along.

“I do think he gives us a little bit more in terms of the pass rush,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “He had a really nice rush on the sack fumble. For [his] first game out after being out for a long time, I think that gives us a foundation to build from.”

He’ll need to build off that foundation quickly. The Bears lost defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner for the rest of the season because of injuries. Defensive end Dominique Robinson also continued to miss practice because of an ankle injury.

The Bears are trying to manage expectations with Booker. He played in 27% of the Bears’ defensive snaps as a rookie and now will be expected to try to make an impact opposite Montez Sweat. But the Bears were encouraged in what they saw Sunday and the steps he can take this year.

“He’s still a young player and so yeah, he’s not the biggest guy that we have out there, you know, so strength and power can be an issue at times,” Allen said. “You know, so we’re working on trying to improve in those areas. But I think the biggest thing, just like with all of these guys, let’s just come to work every day and let’s work on the things that we have to work on and let’s try to improve, and I think our guys are attacking that.”

On special teams mistakes

Sunday was the toughest outing of the season for the Bears’ special teams this season. The unit made mistakes in different ways that allowed the Bengals to take a late lead with less than a minute late in the game.

“Nobody in that room wants to get it corrected more than the players, all right?” special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “And we are going to work night and day to get it all cleaned up. I can promise you that. I will bust my [butt] and they will, too, to get it cleaned up.”

Hightower addressed some of the issues from Sunday. Kicker Cairo Santos missed two field goals, although one was wiped out by a Bengals penalty. Hightower said the operation for the missed kick was not clean from the snap to the hold to the kicks, while the Bears didn’t do a good job blocking between the tackle and the tight end on the blocked kick.

Cincinnati also stole the game’s momentum from the start when the Bengals returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Hightower said the kick location wasn’t where it was supposed to be, while the lane integrity wasn’t correct, which created a big hole.

“He has great poise in those moments. He has great leadership in those moments. Our guys feel really comfortable with him in those moments. And you’re trying to extract that and really every single down, that really is his comfortability in the offense, the operation, what we’re doing, and that just continues to grow and progress.”

—  Declan Doyle, Bears offensive coordinator

The Bengals also took a late lead because they recovered an onside kick after the ball went off defensive lineman Daniel Hardy’s leg. Hightower explained how, with the new kickoff rules, if Hardy goes right at his assignment when the ball is kicked, there’s no risk of him accidentally touching the ball, and Rome Odunze can decide whether to pick up the ball if it reaches 10 yards.

“If you hesitate, if you go inside, if you linger, then you’re at risk for the ball to touch you and make the ball live,” Hightower said. “So, we just need to execute our responsibility with no hesitation. Don’t blink. Go right now, block our guy and get out of harm’s way.”