The Butterball help line recommends defrosting a frozen turkey in the refrigerator 24 hours for every four pounds the bird weighs. A Bears fan who waited until after Sunday night’s 25-20 win against the Vikings to put their large turkey in the fridge, then, could still be staring at a bird-sicle by the time their favorite team kicks off again.
When the final gun rang out at 10:25 p.m. Sunday, the Bears began an unheard-of sprint to prepare for Thursday’s 11 30 a.m. game in Detroit. They have 85 hours and five minutes to prepare for the Lions, give or take a commercial break before the Thanksgiving kickoff.
How disorienting is that in a sport built on routine? Last week, the Bears had 70 hours and 17 minutes between the end of their game until the start of their first practice.
“It’s crazy,” running back Tarik Cohen said Sunday night. “I think this is the shortest turnaround I’ve ever been a part of. I just know I have to take treatment and the training room real … like, make that a priority this week.”
Bears players reported to Halas Hall on Monday afternoon for treatment and classroom work. They won’t even review the film of Sunday’s win. Coaches will save it for the weekend, when the Bears have, in Matt Nagy’s words, a “mini-bye.”
Tuesday, the Bears will hold in their only full practice of the week, though it will be light.
“That’s the No. 1 thing, is to make sure these guys are taken care of, see where they’re at physically — and then mentally they’ll be good,” Nagy said Monday. “But really just send home the message of ‘Here we go.’ It’s right back at it.”
Nagy wants his coaches fresh, too, which means he’ll discourage all-nighters. He wants them to get their normal sleep, as paltry as it might be — four or five hours.
“We want to work smarter, not harder … ” he said. “The same thing with the players.”
One benefit for both teams: they last saw each other Nov. 11.
The familiarity puts an even stronger emphasis on coaching. Will the Lions run offensive concepts similar to what they did in the 34-22 loss at Soldier Field? Will they change personnel? Try something completely different? The Lions figure to be without a main weapon — rookie running back Kerryon Johnson, who hurt his knee in Sunday’s home win against the Panthers.
The Bears began to form their Thanksgiving game plan when they prepared for the first Lions game.
“When you just played somebody a couple of weeks ago, there’s that fine line between chasing the cat’s tail as to what you think they’re going to do or what you saw,” Nagy said. “Or they think you’re going to do this, so you do this and that.
“Just for us, let’s just control what we can control. We have a game plan. We already talked about what we’re going to do for these two out of three weeks against Detroit, so we’ll put it to the test. And it will come quick.”
The Lions traditionally play on Thanksgiving, so some of their offensive staff members — though not new head coach Matt Patricia — are familiar with preparing for the NFL’s only midday Thursday contest of the year. Of course, their players were resting comfortably at home hours before the Bears kicked off Sunday night.
“They’re on a short week, too,” Nagy said. “To me, there’s no advantage or disadvantage either way.”
Being in first place, of course, makes the scramble that much more enjoyable for the 7-3 Bears.
Not that they view it that way.
“It’s not a strain — it’s part of the job,” outside linebacker Khalil Mack said. “Our job is to get ready and go out there and get a win.”
