Saturday night was both physically and mentally exhausting for the Bears, especially considering the emotions of playing their longtime rival, the way that the game ended and the win being the franchise’s first playoff victory in 15 years. But coach Ben Johnson told reporters Wednesday that the Bears haven’t missed a beat in resuming their typical game week process.

“We cannot let a win or a loss linger for too long,” Johnson said. “That’s our job as coaches, making sure we have the right mindset going into the week. And I keep saying it every week, but our veteran leadership, I don’t know if I’ve been around it quite [at] this level before, just week in and week out. We know they have a good pulse for the locker room. Their message is going to be really what we need to hear.”

That message was made clear by multiple players who also spoke to the media Wednesday ahead of meetings and an afternoon walk-through.

Bears captain and 10th-year safety Kevin Byard III reiterated that the locker room remains focused on going 1-0 this week, keeping the same mindset they’ve had since Week 1 of the regular season.

“Anytime you win in the playoffs, it’s always going to be emotional, especially playing at home,” Byard said. “But equally as much as you are on the high end, you’ve got to reset immediately because all these teams we’re playing are great teams. We’ve got the potential, more-than-likely league MVP coming to town. We can’t be thinking about Green Bay anymore.

“As fun as that was, it’s a whole new week. We’re trying to be 1-0 this week. We have to prepare as much as we possibly can to try to go beat this team. That’s what playoff football is about. You can’t be worrying about the last week because at the end of the day, this is a win-or-go-home game as well. So I think the focus will definitely be on the Rams.”

Veteran running back D’Andre Swift shared a similar sentiment, showing both sides of the ball are on the same page.

“That was an emotional game, but it’s over with,” Swift said. “We know that. The emotions were high, especially the way that game ended, but that’s over with, and I feel like everyone in this building, players and coaches know that. We have a great task at hand this week, coming up on Sunday. There’s a great opponent coming in. We can’t dwell on last week. It was great to be a part of it, but we’ve got to turn the page.”

Evaluating the rushing attack

One area of the offense Johnson wants to improve Sunday is the running game, which totaled 93 yards against the Packers after averaging 144.5 yards per game in the regular season, which ranked third in the NFL.

Johnson believes the run game has “dipped a little bit” the last few weeks – the Bears generated 110 yards and 65 yards on the ground in their last two regular-season games against the 49ers and Lions – but remains confident in the group’s ability to bring those numbers back up.

“Certainly late in the season, we wanted that to pick up. Playoffs, weather games like this, you certainly want to be able to lean on your run game,” Johnson said. “So those are some elements we’re looking at. What can we do to help ignite that? It’s both efficient runs to stay on track and ahead of the chains, and also explosive runs as well. Where can we find a few of those? I’ll say this: we’ve got a really tough opponent in that regard. I think they do a really good job. I think the front is their strength.

“These guys at the line of scrimmage are really good football players. I think they shed blocks at an elite level. I think they are relentless. I think they’re violent, really across the board. So I have a lot of respect for them, and we’re gonna have to be on our ‘A’ game to be able to run it on this crew.”

Both Swift, who recorded a career-high 1,087 rushing yards this season, and rookie Kyle Monangai, who posted 783 yards on the ground, have played integral roles in the offense’s success under Johnson.

Swift credits Johnson’s scheme as well as the stability along the offensive line cohesion for the run game’s success. Despite the recent dip in production, the sixth-year pro believes the unit will take the necessary learnings from Saturday’s game and apply those against the Rams defense, which was 12th in the league during the regular season, allowing just 110.8 rushing yards/game.

“Last week, playing a team three times is tough in itself, but they did a lot of things defensively that kind of put us in a bind,” Swift said. “In games like that, you’ve got to run the ball and be efficient in the run game. If you’re not efficient coming out of it, you’re always looking at different ways to [improve] — it was good that we got the win so we can correct those things this week and get back on track.”

Johnson continued to praise the defense’s second-half performance against Green Bay, specifically the increased pressure put on Packers quarterback Jordan Love.

After reviewing the film from the game, Johnson expanded on his assessment of Sweat, who was awarded a game ball by the head coach in the postgame locker room celebration.

“I think he’s a guy that we count on, and I know the sack numbers is what everybody looks at when it comes to edge rushers,” Johnson said. “And he’s at double digits. He’s played really good football in that regard. But as I’ve told him, as the year’s gone along, for me, it’s not just the sacks, it’s also the pressures and the quarterback hits. And so when you’re watching from the sideline and you’re feeling him affecting the quarterback a different type of way, I do think that’s really important.

“I felt like that since the bye week, he’s playing really good in the running game – that gets overlooked – but also in the passing game, I felt him get after the quarterback a little bit more. So when you combine that with a guy like [Austin] Booker on the other side, who I think continues to ascend, I think it gives us a pretty good chance.”

Along with Sweat, Booker has been a key contributor along the defensive line in the second half of the season.

After missing the first seven games due to a knee injury he sustained in training camp, Booker has started nine of the last 10 contests, recording 5.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits.

“Book is definitely making a name for himself now,” Sweat said. “I mean he’s always been a great football player, it’s just a joy that you all get to see it now.”

The Bears released their first injury report of the week Wednesday afternoon after conducting a walkthrough, making the participation levels an estimate. The only player that would not have practiced was nickel back Nick McCloud (groin). Limited participants would have included receiver Rome Odunze (foot) and DJ Moore (knee) as well as linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (back). The following players would have been full participants: cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson (concussion), offensive lineman Braxton Jones (knee), linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (concussion) and defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (concussion).