Chicago Bears: How to take advantage of mini bye week

The Chicago Bears are coming off a whirlwind schedule but have a chance to reset.

To say the Chicago Bears have been through the wringer recently would be a colossal understatement. It started, really, with their matchup with the Detroit Lions on November 11th. Following that 34-22 dismantling at Soldier Field, the Bears stayed in Chicago to take on the Minnesota Vikings the following week in a game that was flexed to Sunday Night Football.

This is normally great news for an upstart team looking to show what it can do on a national stage. And the reality is, this was great news, but also came with a harsh dose of reality, which was that the Bears would have the shortest turnaround in NFL history before their next game. That’s because they were scheduled to travel to Detroit to take on the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

When it was all said and done, the Bears had approximately 85 hours between professional football games. That they were ready and in such great condition for that game is a testament to how hard the team’s medical and training staff worked during such a short window.

Not only was the team ready, but they marched into the Motor City and handled their business, despite being without Mitchell Trubisky. Trubisky was unavailable as a result of an injury he sustained from a highly questionable late hit from Harrison Smith during the Vikings game.

Nevertheless, the Bears emerged from that stretch 3-0, having defeated the Vikings and Lions, whom they played twice in 11 days. In addition to extending their lead in the NFC North, they also earned themselves a mini-bye since they’ll have 10 days until they play the New York Giants next week. Here’s how they can take advantage.