Interesting Quotes From Ryan Pace's Interview

Prior to Chicago's 38-10 drubbing against the Vikings, Bears general manager Ryan Pace spoke to Jeff Joniak about the current state of the franchise. Here are the most interesting quotes from the interview.

#5. On Matt Barkley's future, specifically rebounding from his five-interception outing.

Pace: "I think today is going to be important for him. Really anytime you're evaluating a quarterback you want to see how they handle adversity and how they respond, especially the following game." Possible Meaning: Barkley rebounded with a 59.2 QB rating going 10 of 14 with no touchdowns and two more interceptions. That puts his season rating at 68.3. Based on Pace's quote it's safe to assume he won't altering Chicago's plan to pursue a starting quarterback in the off-season, he's more likely to compete for the backup position.

#4. About his recent conversations with Jay Cutler.

Pace: "Our conversations have been more with the trainers kind of regarding his rehab. One thing with Jay, you know this, it's always been the case. He's an extremely fast healer." Possible Meaning: Cutler's cap hit in 2017 is $16 million, then $17, $20 and $21.7 for the next three seasons after that. With all the rumors swirling about the possibility of getting traded, or cut, it sounds like Pace is taking an opportunity to tell everyone Jay is okay and healing fast. That answer sounds like something someone would say when pitching a fantasy football trade. Cross your fingers for a sixth-round pick.

#3. The direction John Fox is taking.

Pace: "None of us are happy with our record and this season has been disappointing for all of us. Like John said we do see progress and as we've talked about we've played a lot of younger players and with a lot of them we like what we see. I think right now we have the most starts by rookies and second-year players in the league and there's an advantage to that. We know we need to play with better consistency and I think that will come as these guys gain experience and we need to add more firepower to this roster. One thing I really want to stress is that in order to develop these younger players you really need a coaching staff that's on board with preparing them and playing them and I think John's done a good job in leading our team and his staff in assisting that development. I also think he's done a good job instilling the right culture that we want in the locker room and those aren't small things. To change a culture, that's extremely difficult. But I think if you get it right with the foundation of your roster you can really build on top of that." Possible Meaning: There's a lot to that, but something that stands out immediately is when he says Fox has instilled a the right culture and has assisted with developing young players. NFL insiders are reporting that Fox will be retained for next season despite going 9-23 in his first two years. Local beat reporters have talked about possible tension between the two due to Pace's lack of overall control, that doesn't seem to be the case. By the sound of this answer, Pace says he's picking the players and Fox is putting them on the field. The chemistry between them would appear to have an arrow pointing up, rather than down.

#2. Growth despite 3-12 record.

Pace: "I think anytime you go somewhere new you anticipate a lot of change to the roster and that's really taken place over the last two seasons for us. We came into this season with the thought that hey we're going to be younger and we knew we were going to play a lot of new players and that obviously got accelerated with some of the injuries we've sustained this year. But with those injuries, they kind of are what they are. Now I look at the positive; it's us playing a lot of younger core players. It's seeing them grow into major contributors." Possible Meaning: Pace went on to mention players such as Jordan Howard, Leonard Floyd, Nick Kwiatkoski and Eddie Goldman, then talked about improvement of chemistry between the specialists. It's clear he's very excited about the future of the young players. That being said, he directly references getting younger and playing new guys as being part of the plan, that's an indication of the complete roster rebuild the Bears have had to undergo since Phil Emery. Pace doesn't really sound as if making the playoffs in 2016 was ever really expected anyway.

#1. The future of the team.

Pace: "We aren't building a team to play in flashes. We're building a team to get to a point where there's consistent and long term winning. I think sometimes this takes a little bit of growing pains as your young core is kind of developing. But I completely understand that patience in the NFL is very difficult. I get that. But we're on the right course and again it's important for us to add more talent to the roster this offseason, which we will." Possible Meaning: Sounds like the Cubs a little bit ... no? Pace once again backs his plan but references building a young core that will have growing pains. There's surely a core of young players on Chicago's roster capable of long-term success, but there are big holes in other areas that remain. He goes on to ask for patience and talks about being on the "right course" which might indicate Fox is staying. Pace finishes by saying the Bears will add more talent to the roster this off-season which is obviously expected but worth saying. What he's really trying to say is the following ... we have money and we have a lot of young talent, try to be patient while we dominate the draft again and hit 2017 with a healthy team. We're not that far away. Sound familiar? Hear the full interview here.