Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12. Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith

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1 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith Opening statement: It was a simple goal for our team this week to get that ninth win on the road. We couldn t really talk about all of the different playoff scenarios. We just knew we had to get ourselves in position to get ourselves that tenth win, which we ve done. Defensively, we asked them to take over and play the way that they have been capable of doing. How we played early, taking the ball away specifically, is what I m talking about, is an added bonus getting a couple scores. Julius Peppers and the rest of the crew were outstanding. Offensively, we had a little bit of trouble early on establishing ourselves especially with the pass, but right before half we really got a little bit of fire and were able to kind of really carry over for us. Special teams we had a couple miscues. With the punts, that hurt us and of course that blocked field goal there. Can t let those things happen, but just a great job by the team of doing what it took to get this win; get ourselves in a position now. Now, with one game left we can talk about just this game, and having a chance to get into the playoffs. Injury-wise we had a couple of injuries. Chris Conte pulled his hamstring muscle and Matt Forte hurt his ankle. Of course those are two valuable players for us but it s always about that next guy stepping up. Anthony Walters came in and did a pretty good job as did Armando Allen and Kahlil Bell with limited practice reps. Offensive line, both lines, did a good job too. Big win for our team, nine and six, in position for the biggest game we ve had in a long time coming up against Detroit. On the pattern of the game feeling like earlier this season: Yeah I would definitely say that. Defense getting off to a quick start, not just taking the ball away with a touchdown right away. Great field position is first of course, having them backed up. But yes, we have won a lot of games that way. We re hoping to get, I think we are about one away from the all-time record or something like that. We had a chance there late with Kelvin Hayden s interception, but yes. On if the team was aware of the Minnesota Vikings win prior to kick off: To be truthful, last night we talked about the different scenarios early on and said, hey, we cant worry bout that. All we can do is just take care of our business, getting this win against Arizona. I m sure a few of them probably knew, but again it was just still about us taking care of business. In the end, if we won the football game it would give us another week to hope. On how hard it is to be pulling for Green Bay: I ve always been a big Packers fan so it s not hard. It s not hard at all for me. Of course, we will. Minnesota has played good football. The Packers have too. We have a tough division, but as we said this week, we can t do much about that. All we can do is get a win against Detroit. The fans were outstanding again today and hopefully as a Christmas gift we will have a lot of them come drive over and support their team the way they did today.

2 On if the offensive line is getting more comfortable: Yes, I think so. Some of our younger players are having to step up. A guy like Gabe Carimi, Gabe was a right tackle who then moved to guard, and now he s back out to right tackle today with Jonathan Scott s injury. James Brown, free agent rookie, has stepped up. We ve seen improvement from him. J Marcus Webb played a pretty good game last week also. We will need our offensive line to do that. We still have a long ways to go with our team. There s still room for improvement, but we are getting better. On the inconsistent passing game: Well, the passing game wasn t what we d like for it to be early on. I thought at the end of the game we were doing some good things. You have to give them a little bit of credit. This is a very good defensive football team. (Patrick) Peterson is a heck of a player. (Adrian) Wilson. They have good football players, good front. We didn t expect to come in here and score 50 points and throw for 400 yards against them but I thought we made the plays when we had to, especially after that first quarter. On Brian Urlacher coming back at some point: We are definitely thinking that way. I would just say he s making a lot of improvement. We didn t want him to let anyone see him running out there, but I know he s feeling pretty good about where he is. If he s ready to go, good and if not, Nick Roach is doing a great job.

3 On the key to getting the offense going: Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Bears QB Jay Cutler I had a lot of missed passes. It wasn t pretty. We had to make some plays, and I thought the offensive line did a great job. I missed a lot of throws. Wish we had a few back, but we got the win which is the big part. On the defense s performance now compared to the beginning of the season: They ve played well all year. You can t fault them for this year and their effort and what they ve been doing defensively. Offensively we still have to get better. On gaining momentum after halftime: I hit them. We made some plays, and made some catches. I put the ball where it needed to be. There was a lot of press coverage, percentages were low, but we ve hit them all year. Today we just went off. On the rhythm in two minute drills: It s faster. I can t really give you a reason why we hit on those plays, but we miss on others. It s similar coverage, but we just hit them. On awareness of other game scores prior to the game: We saw some pop up, but I ve been in this situation before and you try not to get caught up in what s going on outside what you can control. We saw Minnesota won, and we ll see what happens with Seattle. We took care of our business and nothing could have continued for us unless we did that. We got to nine wins and we are going to try to get to 10 next week. On the chances of getting to the playoffs: You never know in this league. Minnesota played great down in Houston on the road. I don t think very many people saw that one coming. You never really know. On rooting for Green Bay next week: Probably, but you have to. Hopefully we take care of business in Detroit and Green Bay can keep playing well. They put up 55 points today, so hopefully Aaron (Rodgers) can put on another show next week. On the realization of a shut out in the first half:

4 I was aware it wasn t pretty. I knew we were throwing some misses and balls were hitting the ground. You can t really worry about it. That s why I like playing with these guys. We were struggling and got in two minute situations, and guys were still working to get open and made some catches for me. It wasn t the prettiest game, but we got done what needed to get done. On the play calling responsibility during the two minute drill: We go back and forth. If we re moving along, he gives me some ideas. If I like it, I like it, and if I don t, I change it a little bit before the clock stops. It s a back and forth type of thing. On his conversations with receivers during halftime: We knew we were going to get one-on-one going into this game. I thought we were just trying to do too much. We were trying to make the big play every time. We came away from our fundamentals. We just had to get back to running routes and getting out of breaks. We threw up a lot of gos today and didn t hit any. We ve hit them before all year long. I don t think it s anything for concern, but we re still going to throw them next week if we get press man. It is what it is. We missed them today and we ll hit them next Sunday. On the emotions going into next week: It s going to be high. I don t think it s anything too big for this team. We have a lot of veterans and it s a confident group. We knew we were going to get this one, and we re going to be confident about next week too.

5 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Bears Players RB Matt Forte On the running room he had today: Great lanes out there. The offensive line did a great job. When there are running lanes like that, you can make moves in the open field and get extra yards. It s unfortunate that I had to leave the game, but I felt like we were really starting to roll in the running game. On how bad his injury is: It s not the worst that I ve ever felt, but it s the third time. It s just getting a little aggravating. On if he is pleased with the team s performance: Of course. The defense played a great game. The offensive line blocked very well. We definitely were efficient running the ball today. On if he has felt fully healthy since his injury during week two: Yeah, before today. I was feeling really good before the game today. We were running the ball well. You can t really try to expect injuries or avoid them when you re out there playing. You never know where everybody is coming from. Sometimes when you re in a pile, people fall down, land on you, and stuff like that. On whether or not the game plan was to run a lot today or if the game just unfolded that way: I think it was kind of both. We came out throwing the ball a little bit, then we started running. I think we wanted to challenge their corners first and then start running the ball. It was a mixed attack. It worked out for us. On if he will be ready for the game next week: Yeah, I ll play. CB Tim Jennings On Charles Tillman getting in to the end zone again: Man, that guy is amazing. He has a knack for the ball. It seems like every time he gets his hands on it, he s scoring with it. Any time you get that kind of play out of him, it s always a good feeling. Any time that we get a pick-touchdown, that gives us a good chance of winning. On hoping for a Green Bay Packers win next week: It is kind of weird. That s just what it comes down to. So hopefully everything will work out in our favor and we get back to where we need to be. On whether or not he is willing to call himself a Green Bay Packers fan for a week:

6 No, I won t go that far. Like I just said, it s just that time of the year that we need some guys to fall off and lose some games. If that s who we have to root for that one time, then that s what it is. On if he attributes the good defensive play to his return from injury: I don t think that way. I just think that we have a good solid core with the first and second teamers. We just weren t playing the way we should have been playing those games we lost. It feels good to be back out there with them and having fun with those guys, but I m not going to take anything away from the guys that had to step up. OL Gabe Carimi On whether or not the Cardinals did anything that surprised them: No. They blitz a lot, but we covered a lot of the blitzes up in practices, so it felt pretty good going into the game. On the line coming together to produce open running lanes: It felt good out there. Usually when it feels good out there, the line usually plays well together. On how it felt to win today given the circumstances: It s good. You can t worry about what else happens in our conference. It would be the worst feeling if everything lined up and then we didn t do our part, so we needed a win. We have a big matchup next week too. It s a very good team. DL Israel Idonije On if the mindset changed after the Minnesota Vikings won earlier: We re not worried or focused on that. We re focused on us. At the end of the day, all that matters is us, number one. We ve got to play well. We ve got to win this next game. That s it. That s the focus. On Charles Tillman getting into the end zone again today: He s an incredibly talented player. He s just one of those guys that everyday comes to work. He really lives what this defense is based on: effort, hustle, and taking the ball away. He does it everyday. He knocks out the ball every practice. Whenever you need a big play, you can count that he is going to be one of those guys to step up and make a play. Today he did that. CB Charles Tillman On his general thoughts of the game: The Chicago fan support was amazing out here, it felt like a home game. Defense played well. Offense played well. Coaches did a great job. We ve got one more game to go. On the interception: It was a good team effort. It was a good play. It was a team effort. Defense played well. It was a good call. Good blocks by my teammates. We scored twice. Zack (Bowman) had a good game. It was good to have Tim (Jennings) back out there.

7 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Bears Players LB Lance Briggs On what the defense was trying to accomplish this game: Do your part and make plays. We try to get the ball out every game, and it came out today. We have to keep doing it. We have one more to give us a chance. On if they were aware of what was happening around the NFL: No. I`ll take a peek after I leave here. Right now our focus is winning our next one, our playoffs have already started. On how important it was for the defense to score: It was huge. Every time you get points on the board your helping your team win. CB Zackary Bowman On if he saw the ball come out: I didn`t see, I just came around the corner and happened to take a peek down, and there was the ball. Obviously it was on the one yard line so I fell on it and I was trying to pick it up and score. But I just fell on it and kind of just stuck it out in front of the end zone and I was able to get the touchdown. On if it was an easy touchdown: Yeah. Look its Christmas time, the time of giving. I got my gift for the year. DE Julius Peppers On if he could explain his big day on defense: No, just sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn`t. I don`t have an explanation for it, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don`t. On what led to the defense getting pressure on the quarterback: I can`t explain why we were able to get sacks today. We executed the game plan, we had good rushes, we had good pressure inside, and we just rushed from the edge and were able to get to them a couple times. On what the gameplan was to get to Ryan Lindley: We didn t have a specific gameplan to try to do anything to confuse him or take him out of his game. We just played our game. It`s mostly about us and what we do then trying to gameplan for any opponent.

8 On if the defense accepted the coaching staff`s challenge to do the kinds of things they needed to win this game: Of course we did. We always accept challenges, it s not anything special that we did today, we just won a game. That s what we expect to do. On him getting 10 sacks in back to back seasons: Again, in my eyes it s not anything special, its expected. For myself every year it s a goal to get 10 sacks, and I`m happy to celebrate that. But in the big scheme of things it`s just a small individual accomplishment and we have to win a game next week to get what we really want. WR Brandon Marshall On if he knew that Minnesota had won before the game: Yeah I saw it up there, you know it is what it is. All we can do is control what we can control. On what the offense takes away from the game: I know what I take away from it, I stunk the field up. Throwing around that word accountability, I can`t do that especially in this situation in this part of the season. But for the defense to step up and for other guys to step up on the offense, that says a lot and I`m proud that guys around here were able to make big plays, huge plays. Now we just have to go out next weekend and control what we can control. On if he tried to pump Jay Cutler up at halftime: No, it was actually me. I went up to Jay and apologized and said I`ll make the play for you next time, don`t give up on me. It wasn t Jay, it was more about the guys around. There may be a few plays that he may want back, but it was more so on me this game. On being wide open on his touchdown: I mean that s Jay. I don t know what it is about him, but he called that route. I`m looking at Patrick Peterson tell the safety I`m about to jump the slant so please get over top, and I guess Jay knew he was going to jump it. He called the option to that and I was in the back of endzone wide open. On what the give and take was with Patrick Peterson during the game: It wasn t there. You know it was all me. He s a great player, but you know I m disappointed in my play today. When you get the opportunity to go one on one you have to dominate. I was looking forward to this matchup, and dropping the ball on the slant and having an opportunity down the sideline on the left, I have to make those plays. As a competitor there s games within games. I don t know the next opportunity I`ll get against Pat. He`s a great player, but I left way

9 too many plays out there. I m disappointed in that, but when you get a win and you look at where we are sitting at right now, it definitely overcomes what I was doing on the field. On his belief level in the team making the playoffs: It is what it is right now, we need to win our last game and we need some help. But the only thing we can control is going out there and playing against the Detroit Lions. I`m confident in our bunch and confident in myself that we will win our individual battles and I`m confident that our team will do what we have to do and that s all we can control. On if he`s confident the Packers will win: I`m not sure, all we can do is control what we can control. We do need help and if we can get that help, it would be good.

10 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt Opening Statement: Well obviously against a team like that, you can t give them two scores. That s going to make it difficult, especially with the way we ve been doing things offensively so that got us behind the eight ball, which hurt. It also hurt, the drive right before the half, when they had no timeouts and they went down the field. Our guys fought. I really thought that there at the end, the effort on that field goal, speaks a lot about the character of our guys, but disappointed that we made enough mistakes that we didn t get it done today. On if Beanie Wells gave him an explanation on what happened with his fumble: No, he really couldn t. I mean from what I saw, obviously you can t put the ball on the ground, especially not there, so no. On if he liked what he saw out of Brian Hoyer: I think he has limited reps in practice, only been with us a couple of weeks. I thought he did a nice job. Obviously the interception, you know that was a tough situation, but we were in a tough situation. He got put in as tough a deal as he could be being down with them having a good defensive front that were in pass rush mode. I thought he got the ball out quick and he had good anticipation and he made some nice throws. On how critical only getting three points on the back-to-back drives was: It kills you. You can t do that. That was the difference last week in the game when we played Detroit, we got scores out of that. I know it was closer. I know that it was down there inside the red zone, but we had opportunities there and we didn t take advantage of them and that s what you can t do. On if the fake field goal was an effort to get something going: Yeah. Unfortunately because of the hash, it went left. Had it gone to the right I think Jay [Feely] would have been able to get it off because it was a pass to Jim Dray and he was wide open, but when [Charles] Tillman grabbed him it kind of knocked him off balance and then obviously going to his left it was hard. We knew that they were going to come after it off that side and we felt like we had a shot to get Jay around the corner like we did last year, but that s really what it was. At that point in the game it was trying to get something going and I don t think he completed, their quarterback had completed one pass at that point. Our defense had done a pretty good job against him, so there were a lot of factors that were involved with that decision. On where he stands mentally with the quarterback situation: It s tough, isn t it? I said it before, we re not getting the production out of that position and it s hard to win in this league if you don t do better from that standpoint. Especially what s really killing us. I don t know how many turnovers we had for touchdowns, pick sixes. Those are things that you can t do, but that s all part of this process. It s not fun, but we keep working at it.

11 On why they decided to go with Brian Hoyer as the backup instead of John Skelton: We re pretty banged up as a team. I planned on having three of them out there and then we could make the decision during the course of the game, but when we came down to needing that extra spot, we had Brian. We brought Brian in. He looked good in practice in the limited reps and thought maybe we d have an opportunity to see a little bit more of him. I think that with our quarterback situation the way it is, we need as much information as we can get and that was what we did. I wouldn t have done it if I didn t feel like the change was warranted, because where we were in the game with a one-score game, I thought we would have stayed pat, but at that point in the game I felt like it was the right thing to do. On if they are going to reassess everything before the San Francisco game: Yeah, it s tough. There are a lot of things we have to process from this. Protection today wasn t as good. Obviously we gave up some more sacks. That s a good front and we struggled blocking them at times so you have to look at that. I mean those are all factors that go into making a decision going forward.

12 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Cardinals Players QB Ryan Lindley On being pulled from the game after throwing an interception for a touchdown: They just made a change, so whatever, roll with it. To throw that miss out there, obviously that s one you want to get back. You take what you can from it. On if Bears CB Charles Tillman jumped the pattern that led to the interception for a touchdown: I m not sure what happened. He obviously just made a nice play on the ball. We will have to look on film. On the difficulty of learning while playing: It s up and down, but I ve called it a crash course lesson this year. As long as you take the right way, it s either going to put you down or build you up. You have to take it in stride, take what you can from it, move on, and try to make yourself better from it. On how it felt to be removed from the game while the team is down: They made the decision. There s nothing I can do to change that. It s been made. I m going to support Brian (Hoyer) just they way he supported me the first time. I told him, hey let me know what you want me to look for, I ll be here for you on the sideline, whatever you need. That s the way we ve all been this year, all four of us, Kevin (Kolb), John (Skelton), myself, and Brian, guys have to stick together. On this eventually making him a better player in this league: It s hard, and it s easier said than done. Obviously, you re still going to be upset, but you don t lose your competitive edge through that. You re still frustrated with the way you played, you re still frustrated with losing, but you can t take it into next week and beat yourself up over it. On getting Larry Fitzgerald more involved this week: Definitely, we just had some things dialed up that got him involved. The way they were playing, they were playing cover two a lot and just leaving windows for him open. You just try to get the defense down and put one in there for him. QB Brian Hoyer On getting the call to come in: Obviously, any competitor wants to get on the field. You don t want to be sitting on the sidelines. I was excited, so I just tried to go out there and make the best of the situation. I can t take my mind off that interception. It was a dumb decision. I tried to force it. Tried to pump to the underneath guy and hit behind, and that one will stay with me for a few days.

13 On the difficulty of the situation, only being here two weeks: It s obviously not ideal, but football is football. You just want to go out and play the best you can, and obviously improve, definitely improve off of this, and just try to make the most out of the opportunity. On the possibility of starting next week: I don t know. Obviously, I ll feel a little more comfortable tomorrow than I did today, actually having run some plays. So we ll see what happens, that s not in my hands, so I ll prepare like I m going to start like I always do, regardless of what I am on the depth chart. That s one thing that I learned in New England, It s a moment s notice that you have to go in. I ll definitely prepare like I m going to start. On if the playbook was scaled back: It was whatever was in, was in. Obviously, talking to the coaches on the sideline I kind of told them what I liked a little bit better than others. On feeling like he had chemistry with Larry Fitzgerald: It s hard not to have chemistry with him. He s a great receiver, and you just don t want to force it to him though. When you get the opportunities, you try to take them. Unfortunately, that one I tried to force it to him. The one thing I learned from Tom Brady is to take what the defense gives you, and on that play I didn t really do that. I was trying to force it. Regardless of the situation you want to get the ball down field and get the two-minute going. You don t want to force it and turn the ball over. On looking at this as an audition: For sure. Anytime you re out there on the field, it s your resume. You have to go out there and take advantage of every opportunity you re given. In New England I didn t get many opportunities to get on the field. I was excited to play the game, it has been awhile since I got to play and play an extensive role. I was happy to be out there, but disappointed in myself. Not just the interception, but there were a few other plays I could ve read a little bit better or taken someone else, but obviously the interception will be the one that sticks with me most. On evaluating his overall performance: I think the one thing I m happy about the most is going out being confident and kind of just running the team. I was out of football for 10 weeks, then I got to go to Pittsburgh, and at least I got my feet back under me there and practiced a bunch. Then come here and get an opportunity to play in a game.

14 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Cardinals Players RB Beanie Wells On the conversation he had with Ken Whisenhunt after his fumble: It is what it is. Who knows how it s going to turn out from here. On this season seeming like they get it going a little and then something happens to stop them: It s been up and down for us all year. We haven t been able to get that consistency going. It is what it is. It s tough. On what keeps him going when dealing with a season like this: We re all out here fighting for jobs, whether it s going to be here or somewhere else. We re all going out there and just playing for jobs. On what happened on his fumble: I moved forward and kind of fell back. I don t know if I got it or whatever the case was. On if he got hurt on the play he fumbled: No, not at all. SS Adrian Wilson On his blocked field goal and still having it in him to make a play like that even with the situation of the game: We lost. Defensively, we ve never given up. Everybody keeps talking about the Seattle debacle. We never really gave up in that game either. It just kind of got out of hand. Every guy on defense is going to fight until the last tick. On when the last time he blocked a field goal was: I don t know. I don t care. 12 years, it s been a long time. On if he contemplated that this might have been his last home game as a Cardinal: I haven t thought about that one bit, until you guys continuously bring it up. If they make a decision, I m pretty sure it s going to be pretty quick. If they don t, ok. Either way I go, I m a good player. We ll see what happens. On if he looks around and realizes there will be changes on this team whether it involves him or not: We re Let s be honest here. That s for you guys to write. I just know what our record is right now.

15 On what it said about this defense that they kept playing to the end with the blocked FG: I don t know. Like I said, we just keep fighting. We don t have a group that gives up. That s not on that side of that ball. Whether it s through leadership or whether, it s just the group of guys assembled over there, that s not in that group. On how close this team is to turning it around given how quickly things change in the NFL: I don t know. We re 5-10 right now, so we re a 5-10 team. Next season will be next season, and there will be a lot of changes. We ll see what happens. On what goes through his mind when he thinks about the possibility of going to another team: What goes through my mind is I m going to have to move my family, I m going to have to find my kids another school. Will they like the school? That s what goes through my mind my family; not me personally, because I can adjust. On how difficult it is to think about moving his family: Do you have kids? Anybody have kids? It s going to be pretty difficult. To have a 10-year old, an eight-year old, and a three-year old, that s pretty difficult. That s all I think about. I don t think about myself personally.

16 Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears 12/23/12 Cardinals Players Cardinals DE Calais Campbell On his first thoughts after the loss: I just like the way we finished the game. That was one of those games that was kind of how our whole season went kind of got down fast, and we could have just thrown in the towel and got blown out like we did against Seattle. I don t think we threw in the towel, but it just could have happened. I liked the way this team played, and we fought and kept going forward. That blocked field goal and return for a touchdown says wonders about how hard we play week in and week out. On where their maximum effort comes from: I think it s just the type of guys we have in here. We have a lot of guys who won t quit. They have a lot of fight in them. That s what you need around here. I think we re just a couple pieces away from the puzzle to being great. On where he thought the game got away: Any time the defense scores two touchdowns, it s hard to win the game. They got one early, and it was so crazy because I almost blocked a punt, and if I would have blocked that, they wouldn t have had a chance to get down there and pin us on the one-yard line. They made a couple plays and it kind of took the life out of us, but we regrouped and just kept fighting. On being surprised how much Chicago threw the ball: I was very surprised. I was expecting them to come out here and try to establish a run game, but (Jay) Cutler didn t really start fast. Take away the two-minute drive, I don t really know how well he played, but in that two-minute drive he made some things happen. It s tough, because it was max protection. It was one of those things where they came out doing something different than we thought they were going to do, and we had to regroup and figure it out. Once we figured it out, we were ok. Cardinals K Jay Feely On his fake field goal being a run-pass option: Yeah, but I got hit right off the bat, I think by (Charles) Tillman. Then there was a guy rolling left, so I couldn t really get a pass off. On knowing his foot speed wasn t enough to get around the edge of the defenders: I was trying. On seeing something in their coverage through film during this week: Obviously Coach (Kevin) Spencer is a great coach and is always looking for an edge and trying to find something, and they came hard on the time before that, so we thought we could catch them when they came hard. Tillman is just a great player and he did a good job of recognizing it and coming off of it and giving me a bump enough to kind of slow it down and throw the rhythm of the play off.

17 On appreciating what Dave Zastudil has done this season: No question. We ve been playing football in the NFL for years, and to do something no one else has done. Obviously we re disappointed with the season and the losses that we ve had, but you have to give him credit for what he s accomplished. That s phenomenal. He has a chance next week to put a lot of distance in there and make it untouchable, hopefully. He s done a great job coming back off the injury he had, and to be one of the best punters in the NFL, and I don t know if he ll get in the Pro Bowl or not, but he s certainly deserving. Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson On being in many different positions on the field today: We had a lot of injuries throughout practice. A lot of guys were banged up, so they needed me to go down there and try to contain 23 (Devin Hester). We didn t want him to get out on us or make a big play for the Chicago Bears team. We wanted to bottle him up pretty good, and I think we did a pretty good job. On if he thought Brandon Marshall was pushing off to make catches: The ref is out there, and at the end of the day they have the last call, and they didn t call it. I have to live with it. On Brandon Marshall s touchdown: The way the defense was designed, I was supposed to be underneath looking for help over the top, but they got us in a bad call and just made a play on us. On the defense still playing tough despite the offense s struggles: At the end of the day, as an offense we can t give up two touchdowns and that s what Coach Wiz reiterated on today. As a defense, at the end of the day, we can t let those guys score, so we have to do a better job when the offense does turn over the ball, and go out there and hold those guys to three points. On consistency issues being tough to deal with: It s very tough, but as a team we have to stick together and we have to continue growing on what we have here. At the end of the day, it s week 16, so we have to continue fighting with the men we have in this locker room. On the team still having fight in them: Oh yeah. We re a team that never wants to give up. We want to play hard until the fourth quarter until that clock says zero. That s our mentality coming into the game, and that s our mentality, win, lose, or draw, to finish the game the way we started. Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald On his first thoughts about the game: The first thing that comes to mind is just giving up those 14 points. Any time you spot a really good football team points, it s tough to overcome those types of games. The Bears do a good job of turning the football over, causing turnovers, and that held true today. They re a good defense.

18 On his thoughts on the quarterback change: I think Brian (Hoyer) did a good job. He s only been here two weeks. There s a lot to learn in two weeks, but I think he operated pretty well for us. He got us moving up and down the field a little bit. It was encouraging. On what he expected from Brian Hoyer: Well, you just try to go out there and make his job as easy as possible. You try to go out there and make a play. He threw some nice balls in there for us. He gave some guys opportunities to make some plays. He was calm, he was collected, and he had a good idea of where he was going. He s come from some good programs, in New England and Pittsburgh, so he s been around some good players, good schemes, good coaches, so he has some good technique and he made some plays. On it being possible to develop chemistry with Brian Hoyer in such a short period of time: I think we got into a little chemistry. I made a couple catches for him. He throws a nice, catchable ball. He s got a real promising future. On his frustration from the turnovers: Pick-sixes are difficult to overcome, especially when your defense is playing so well. When you go three-and-out, you punt the ball, at least we are able to have our defense back on the field, and they can create some turnovers and get us the football back, so we can never spot teams points. On the back-to-back drives starting inside Chicago s 40 and only getting three points: That was huge. The game was still within reach at that point. Whenever we get the ball at down and distance, and with a short field, we have to get points. That s something we talked about pregame, yesterday, our last meeting. We wanted to be able to capitalize on the short field opportunities and in the red zone, and we weren t able to do that today. On injuries affecting the team throughout the season: It s been difficult dealing with the injuries, but it s no different with anybody else. The Bears didn t have (Brian) Urlacher and were missing Tim Jennings for a while. (Matt) Forte s missed some games. Everybody deals with it, but it s the teams that are able to overcome that adversity. Unfortunately we haven t been able to do that, but the guys are still fighting and we re still competing. I think the play at the end of the game, it would have been easy to lay down, but the guys blocked that field goal for a touchdown and it just showed you the character of the guys we have in this locker room. We re not going to quit, we re going to continue to fight, even if sometimes it doesn t look good, we re going to keep battling.