Some might call Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy glutton for punishment.

"We're excited about getting an opportunity to go against somebody else in real time," Getsy said. "There's no question.

"But the progress is there. Like we’ve talked about in here before, we're, getting better every single day. So we're excited to see what that's against. It's one of the best defenses in the league, so it'll be fun to see."

At least now it's fun.

In the last three years the 49ers haven't been lower than fifth in the league in yards allowed. It hasn't mattered whether their coordinator was Robert Saleh or now DeMeco Ryans. They were that good. Considering the Packers in Week 2 could have possibly the best defense in the league, there's no way the Bears offense simply wades into this season. 

"Not putting an expectation of a 1,000 yards in a game or 60 points in a game or something crazy or anything like that," Getsy said.

In some games, the last regime didn't reach 50 yards or more than a field goal so Getsy is likely to find people are not picky. The end zone is the end zone.

"We want the play style to be right, we wan t the mindset to be right, we want to take care of the football," Getsy said. "We're gonna do all those things, be great situationally. We're staying pretty focused on our main goals, our main philosophy."

What Getsy's expectations are do not pe"rtain to numbers on the scoreboard or stat sheet.

"I think when you put the tape on, I think you want to see guys that are firing off the football, that are finishing, playing the play longer than everybody else," Getsy said. "And then we're taking care of the football. We sit on those three principles pretty much every single day we hit on those and we're about those three things.

"So, if we can see those three things, we feel like we got a chance."

To reach those will require Justin Fields to play like the quarterback the Bears say they've seen since this regime took over. They're not pressuring him to heighten his playing level over what they've seen to date

"I mean, nothing different (for expectations) than I wanted to see from him every time we're on the practice field or every time we played a preseason game," Getsy said. "There's no accelerated or expectation level that I have.

"We expect him to be a great teammate, take care of the football and execute his assignments, just like we ask everybody else. The cool part about him is he's got these natural leadership skills that everybody wants to follow and he's a winner. So we're excited to see what it all looks like with everybody, 11 as one."

Getsy isn't worried about Fields. He's found a mature quarterback who doesn't need gimmicks to be prepared mentally for a game.0

"He's a self-motivator," Getsy said. "He doesn't need me or somebody else to put something, to dangle a carrot in front of him. He really doesn't. This guy is self-motivated, he wants to be great, he wants to own everything that he's responsible for and everything he's part of.

"Being a self-starter is maybe not normal for the world, but this dude, he attacks every single day like 'I gotta do everything I possibly can to own what I'm about to do next.' Just the consistency that he brings every single day is really impressive."

This article first appeared on Bear Digest and was syndicated with permission.

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