Bears formulate contingency plans if their coordinators are out Monday

Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. By Friday, he was already going stir crazy.

Tabor, who served as acting head coach when Matt Nagy missed a game due to COVID-19 in October, looked forward to his afternoon walk around the block Friday.

“That’s going to be the big activity today,” Tabor said.

His other activities during quarantine have been watching lots of film and staring out the window, he said. Anyone who has been forced to self-quarantine can probably relate.

Tabor’s coworkers feel the same way. Currently, all three Bears coordinators are working remotely after contracting COVID-19. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and defensive coordinator Sean Desai also tested positive this week and are participating via Zoom as the team prepares to play the Minnesota Vikings on Monday.

The Bears also have 13 players, including a handful of key contributors, on the COVID-19 list as of Friday afternoon.

On Friday, Tabor and Desai said they were feeling well. Lazor had a head cold, a cough and sounded a little bit congested on his Zoom call with members of the media. The Bears coaching staff was 100% vaccinated and Lazor mentioned that he had already received a booster shot.

The current wave of COVID-19 didn’t seem to care. The NFL has seen a spike in cases this week, as have the NBA, NHL, college basketball and the country at large. The NFL on Friday rescheduled three of this weekend’s games due to COVID-19 outbreaks on multiple teams.

As of Friday afternoon, there has been no change to the Bears’ scheduled kickoff at 7:15 p.m. Monday against the Vikings at Soldier Field.

The concern now for the Bears is contingency plans. There’s no guarantee that their three coordinators will be back in time for Monday’s game.

The NFL updated its return to play policies regarding COVID-19 on Thursday. Previously, vaccinated individuals couldn’t return to work unless they test negative twice at least 24 hours apart. The new requirement makes it easier for players to return by focusing on a metric that measure an individual’s viral load known as the cycle threshold. If a player or coach has a cycle threshold that is high enough that the player is deemed not contagious, even if he is still testing positive by traditional PCR tests, that individual could return to work.

Slightly relaxed testing requirements, however, does not guarantee a return for anyone currently out with COVID. The Bears have to move ahead with alternate plans.

If Lazor remains out, Nagy will likely call plays for the offense. If Desai is sidelined, senior defensive analyst Mike Pettine will likely step in and handle his duties. As for special teams, Tabor has full confidence in his assistant Brian Ginn.

Ginn has been with the Bears since 2018 and coached in various roles at the University of Delaware over 18 years before that. Ginn is always on the headset with Tabor on Sundays. Tabor said the two work very closely together throughout the week.

“He’s coached a long time,” Tabor said of Ginn. “And he’s been with me for a couple of years. He’s been, obviously, on the offensive side in his career. He knows how to handle players. He’s coordinated at the collegiate level. So him being up in front of a room, that’s easy for him.”

Pettine is the former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator and was the Cleveland Browns head coach in 2014 and 2015.

Bears safety Tashaun Gipson played for Pettine in Cleveland. He believes Pettine helped him have his best seasons. Gipson had six interceptions and made the Pro Bowl under Pettine in 2014.

“I have no doubt in my mind that Coach Pett will be able to come in here and call the game the way that he’s seeing fit, obviously, within the system that Coach Desai has built,” Gipson said. “But he’s been doing this for a long time.”

Pettine joined the Bears over the offseason after being fired by the Packers. His role has been mostly behind the scenes.

With numerous players on the COVID-19 list, the starting offense and defense could look different Monday. But the biggest question marks are going to be on special teams. No matter how many practice squad players the Bears ultimately must pull up to the active roster, the majority of them are going to have to take snaps on special teams.

“But I’ll be honest with you, it’s been a lot of fun, as crazy as that sounds,” Tabor said. “Guys are going to get opportunities. [On special teams] that’s where most organizations start when they’re changing players in those types of things. So this is a great opportunity for guys that haven’t got playing experience to get some tape out there, because tape is their resume. It has been challenging, but like I say, it’s been fun.”