MINNEAPOLIS (670 The Score) -- With changes expected to come soon for the Bears in the wake of a lost season, general manager Ryan Pace on Sunday offered optimism for the future of the team.
Pace downplayed speculation of his own job security during an interview on the Bears pregame show on WBBM Newsradio 780 prior to Chicago's season finale at Minnesota.
"That's the industry we're in,” Pace said in his weekly interview with Jeff Joniak. “It's sports in general. I love the passion of our fan base. But our job is to focus on the continued process of building our team, and we feel good about the trajectory that we're on."
The Bears are expected to fire coach Matt Nagy sometime in the next couple days. The status of Pace, who's finishing his seventh season as the team’s chief football executive, isn't clear. Entering Sunday, Chicago was 48-64 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs under Pace’s watch.
Pace hasn't addressed reporters in a group setting since prior to the start of the regular season in September. He believes the Bears (6-10) have a bright future because of their foundation, which includes rookie quarterback Justin Fields.
"We just talked about the young core and the traits they possess,” Pace said. “But obviously the quarterback is the critical piece to any team's success, and we feel really good about that. We have good flexibility with our cap going forward. We'll continue to stack strong draft classes and just continue to add to that core, and that's the blueprint.”
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.