LAKE FOREST – Bears coach Matt Eberflus met with reporters Monday at Halas Hall after the Los Angeles Chargers blew out the Bears 30-13 in front of a national audience Sunday night.

With the NFL trade deadline looming Tuesday and another road game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday without starting quarterback Justin Fields, Eberflus will need to find a way to right the ship of a 2-6 team. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Eberflus’ media session Monday.

On Justin Fields, other injuries

Eberflus said Fields still is week-to-week with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand and ruled him out against the Saints. Backup Tyson Bagent will make his third consecutive start.

Fields has worked with the training staff and showed signs of improvement, but Eberflus wouldn’t get into whether Fields has attempted to throw or grip a ball.

“He is progressing, I can say that,” Eberflus said. “I’m not going to get into particulars, but he is impressing, and he is improving.”

Eberflus also gave more clarification about safety Jaquan Brisker’s illness that has kept him out the last week. Brisker initially cleared concussion protocol after the win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7 and had a fever from Tuesday until it cleared Saturday. Brisker still felt off Sunday, the team reevaluated him, and he entered concussion protocol Monday.

Eberflus said he’s never had anything like that happen before but was proud of Brisker’s communication with the team.

“The most important thing is our players’ safety and health,” Eberflus said. “Jaquan did a very good job communicating with us, and the training staff did a really good job, too.”

Eberflus also said the Bears are hopeful to get left tackle Braxton Jones (neck) fully back on the field this week. Jones is in his 21-day window to return from the injured reserve list.

“He is progressing, I can say that. I’m not going to get into particulars, but he is impressing, and he is improving.”

—  Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach

The team also will continue to evaluate linebacker Tremaine Edmunds after he suffered a knee injury against the Chargers.

On the Bears’ fight

Eberflus disagreed when asked if the Bears weren’t playing up to his H.I.T.S principle. The concept involves every player hustling, playing with intensity, being mindful of the ball and being smart.

“It is there every week,” Eberflus said. “The effort and the intensity is there. I would say we’ve got to do a better job of playing complementary football together and also being on the details, the angles, the tackling.”

The Bears defense failed to apply pressure and finish tackles against the Chargers in the first half Sunday, most notably during Austin Ekeler’s 39-yard touchdown reception for the Chargers in the first quarter. The failed tackling allowed the Chargers to score points on all four of their drives in the first half and led to a 24-7 halftime deficit.

The Bears as a team committed seven penalties for 53 yards. The undisciplined play was highlighted on the team’s second drive, when two offensive linemen committed penalties and Velus Jones picked up a fair catch interference penalty on the Bears’ punt, giving the ball to the Chargers on their own 45-yard line.

Eberflus remained encouraged the intensity was there.

“We just need to improve,” Eberflus said. “I know the effort is there, and the intensity is there. We certainly fought in that game up until the end.”

On handling the trade deadline

Eberflus wouldn’t offer any details whether the Bears would be active before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

“That’s up to [general manager] Ryan [Poles] and his crew,” Eberflus said. “They look at anything, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Bears will need to make a decision on whether they’ll want to trade or extend players who are in the last year of their contract, including cornerback Jaylon Johnson and wide receiver Darnell Mooney. There also have been rumors the Bears could trade for Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young.

Eberflus said he learned how to handle the deadline during his first year in charge last season when the Bears traded away Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. Some of the players from last year’s team said at the end of the season those trades hurt the team’s morale.

Eberflus thinks this year’s team has a strong bond and knows open communication will be important if any moves are made.

“If you’re going to do that, you have to be ahead of it, explain to the players why and what happened, making sure ahead of time the best you can,” Eberflus said. “That’s what we learned.”