Matt Nagy is back with the Chicago Bears after the head coach cleared COVID-19 protocol ahead of the Week 9 showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nagy was absent from last week's 33-22 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers following a positive coronavirus test, leaving special teams co-ordinator Chris Tabor in charge.
But after eight days in quarantine, Nagy is set to return to the sidelines for Monday's clash with the Steelers as the slumping Bears (3-5) seek to snap a three-game skid.
"We just had our walkthrough," Nagy said on Thursday. "It was great to be able to get outside to get back out there with them.
"I was cleared on Tuesday, so I was back in the office Tuesday morning. I was able to get back in here and get back to some quote-unquote normalcy. It was awesome seeing all the coaches and really just kind of getting back on track."
Chicago have been outscored by 72 points this season. That is the Bears' worst point differential through their first eight games of a season since 2000 (minus-92 points), per Stats Perform.
The Bears have won their last three games against the Steelers – the most recent of which was a 23-17 overtime victory in Week 3 of the 2017 season.
Chicago are 19-7-1 all-time against Pittsburgh, but that includes Bears wins in each of the teams' first 10 meetings, all before 1950.
"There's definite urgency, and I think that that's OK," Nagy said. "You need to have that … We have this game coming up and we have a bye and then you have eight games after that. But the only thing that matters is making sure that we get that win. The wins change everything.
"Look at the Steelers. They started out 1-3. Here they are 4-3. They've won three in a row. They fought through it. They probably have pretty good leaders, probably have guys that care about playing. And they don't point fingers, they don't blame, they're not negative. They're positive. We've got a positive room in there. The players are positive. They care.
"We want to start a different streak. Let's win one and then win another and continue to go and see where it leads. That's kind of the mindset that we have."