Bears coordinator Vic Fangio: No regrets having Khalil Mack play pass coverage

Regrets, he’s had a few.

The way he used Khalil Mack isn’t one of them.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Thursday that he wouldn’t have done much differently in the Bears’ 38-31 loss Sunday to the Patriots. There were two play-calls, maybe — particularly one on a third-and-four — but those second guesses happen every week.

Deciding to use perhaps the NFL’s best pass rusher in coverage for all but 14 snaps while he was on the field wasn’t one of the things Fangio would change.

He rushed only three men against Tom Brady often, dropping eight defenders — including Mack and fellow outside linebacker Leonard Floyd — into coverage.

Mack dropped back 18 times, Floyd 13.

“We had the plan to mix in some three-man rush with maximum drop because [Brady] likes to get the ball out quick and try to intermix that in there with everything else we do,” Fangio said Thursday.

How’d it work?

Fangio pointed out that none of the Patriots’ big plays came against three rushers.

“Not too bad,” he said. “Obviously, not good enough.”

He claimed he would have devised the same scheme even if Mack had been healthy. Mack hurt his right ankle the week before against the Dolphins and participated in only one practice — on a limited basis — before taking the field Sunday. The Bears put him on a similar plan this week.

Fangio stated the obvious, which is what coach Matt Nagy said earlier in the week: Mack wasn’t himself because of the injury.

“Well, he’s affected by it,” Fangio said. “He’s obviously not 100 percent.”

The Bears — Fangio included — have struggled to pick up the slack with Mack hurt. After getting 18 sacks in their first four games, the Bears have one in the last two games. Facing the Jets — and rookie quarterback Sam Darnold — figures to unleash more creative pressures from Fangio. His players will need to comply. Floyd has yet to get a sack this year, while backup outside linebacker Aaron Lynch has two.

Fangio said Mack’s injury has hurt the Bears’ defense on a general scale, but that’s not an excuse for individual mistakes elsewhere.

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“It may affect our overall performance, but it’s no reason for a guy over here and a guy over there to have a bad down because [Mack] is subpar,” Fangio said. “That’s just a fact. For anybody to use that as a crutch is just looking for a reason.

“Whether he’s out there playing at his best or playing at something less than his best because of an injury, it doesn’t affect the way the other 10 guys have to do their jobs. Now can the result be better? Yes, for the unit. But it still shouldn’t affect the way you do your job. And I just don’t buy that that’s the reason this guy is not playing as well or that guy is not playing as well.”

Or tackling well. Fangio and Nagy pointed to the Bears’ tackling struggles as a major reason for allowing 69 points the last two weeks. The Bears have given up five plays of 35 yards or longer in the last two games; in the four before, they gave up six.

The Bears missed 19 tackles against the Dolphins, according to Pro Football Focus, and six against the Patriots.

“We’ve gone from being a pretty good tackling team to . . . the last two weeks that hasn’t been the case,” Fangio said.

When Nagy was asked about his struggling defense, he pointed to the same thing.

“You get concerned, but it’s not a panic,” Nagy said. “There’s a concern because . . . more so than anything, it’s been our tackling, especially two weeks ago in Miami. And there were a few this past game.”