Bears ILB Roquan Smith (9.26.21)

On if he feels the Bears hung in for a while during the game:

“It is a marathon, not a sprint, so can’t look at it as ‘hanging in there for a while.’ At the end of the day, you have to finish what you start. It was a loss. Hats off to those guys. They came out and did what they did.”

On how much of the Bears’ offensive difficulties impacted the defense:

“At the end of the day, we all have a job. It is offense and it is defense, and we all stick together. It is not about singling anything out or try to make one look better than the other, because at the end of the day, points were given up.”

On how to stay sharp as possible with a lot of snaps:

“You just have to keep fighting. You can’t look at all the circumstances, because at the end of the day, we all signed a contract to go out there and play ball. I am not worried about how much I am out on the field.”

On what he attributes to the success of the Browns’ running game later in the game:

“Not finishing and just wrapping the guys up. We had a lot of opportunities. We had a couple of missed tackles. We just have to take advantage of those opportunities when we have them and make the most of it. It is not hard. Football is tackling and keeping the guys from scoring.”

On when OLB Khalil Mack came back out and what that did for the Bears’ energy:

“It is big. When a guy is hurting, or whatever the case may be, to come out there and show that he is really dedicated to his teammates and doing whatever it takes to get out on the field. Tip the hat off to the guy. The guy is a warrior and he fights each and every day.”