Chicago Bears Address Multiple Crises Even As Another Issue Pops Up
The Chicago Bears have spent much of the past 24 hours in crisis management mode.
The latest attempt to make sure everyone understands everything is just fine at Halas Hall came Thursday when general manager Ryan Poles addressed reporters for approximately eight minutes during a previously unscheduled press conference.
Poles mentioned "outside noise" during what he said was an update on the state of the team but the truth is the situation is almost all the Bears doing.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 26: : General manager Ryan Poles looks on before a preseason game between the Chicago Bears and the Buffalo Bills at Soldier Field on August 26, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Bears Problems Need Managing
The 0-2 start is the Bears doing.
The defensive coordinator quitting is the Bears doing.
Starting quarterback Justin Fields struggling is the Bears doing. Fields struggling to explain why he's struggling is the Bears doing.
The outside noise does exist. But it's on the margins. The issues causing the noise are much louder and much more important.
"First and foremost to hit it straight on, we have adversity right now," Poles said. "Slow start, 0-2, not where you want to be. We've dealt with life issues. We've dealt with injuries. And that's all real and that's a part of what we do and what we have to deal with."
"The beautiful thing about our philosophy here, our organization, is we're solution oriented. We work together to find solutions and solve our problems to get everything back on track."
Got it.
The Bears have plenty of solutions they must seek because their problems threaten the season. And failing on the field is the biggest part of that. But there's other stuff that, well, makes the team look bad.
Let's take it chronologically for the sake of not confusing, well, me.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 26: Defensive coordinator Alan Williams of the Chicago Bears looks on against the Buffalo Bills during the first half of a preseason game at Soldier Field on August 26, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Bears DC Alan Williams A Mystery
Defensive coordinator Alan Williams was, by all accounts, with the club throughout training camp and the preseason and that continued through the regular-season opener.
But last week Williams left the club. The club cited personal reasons for the coach's absence.
Then things got weird.
Coach Matt Eberflus, who has previously been a defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts and in the college ranks, handled Chicago's defensive coordinator duties last week. Then he said Wednesday he'll continue to fill that role against the Kansas City Chiefs (good luck) but otherwise had no update on Williams.
Except Williams had apparently tendered his resignation hours before for health reasons. Copies of the resignation letter, not written on Bears letterhead, hit social media soon after Eberfuls said he had nothing to report.
Bad Journalism Hurts Bears, Too
Williams apparently hired an attorney. That attorney, Andrew M. Stroth, told reporters Williams was resigning due to health concerns and family issues. And he denied reports of a federal raid on Williams' home and Halas Hall.
Oh, yes, there was that erroneous report.
"Completely false," Poles said as to the report's mention of Halas Hall. "Don't even know where that came from."
Yes, weird. But it was also strange Williams would go hire an attorney to make a statement about his health. Anyway, Williams is gone and Eberflus is handling two jobs for the second week in a row.
"Is the situation easy, is sudden change easy? No it's not," Poles said. "But he handled it well ... We'll figure out all the titles and everything, I'm sure, next week."
TAMPA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 17: Shaquil Barrett #7 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackles Justin Fields #1 of the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium on September 17, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Justin Fields Made A Mess
Then there was the Justin Fields saga that the quarterback himself ignited when he spoke with reporters.
Fields is currently the NFL's 26-rated passer. He's thrown 2 TDs and 3 interceptions. And he admitted he felt he was playing "robotic" last Sunday against the Buccaneers.
Why?
“Um, you know, could be coaching. I think,” he responded. "But, um, at the end of the day, they’re doing their job when they’re giving me what to look at,” Fields continued. “… But at the end of the day, I can’t be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week and when the game comes, it’s time to play free at that point. So, um, just thinking less and playing more."
With that, Fields went off to practice and social media "reporters" latched onto the "coaching" part of his response without providing full context. The full context, by the way, made it clear Fields was blaming himself.
And coaching.
So Fields had another impromptu presser in the locker room in which he tried to correct the record. "I'm not blaming anything on the coaches," he said. "I'm never going to blame anything on the coaches, anything on my teammates."
Apparently not satisfied this sufficiently absolved Fields -- perhaps because it doesn't -- Poles hit the topic again on Thursday.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 26: : General manager Ryan Poles looks on before the preseason game between the Chicago Bears and the Buffalo Bills at Soldier Field on August 26, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Poles' Insists Fields Doesn't Point Finger
"I can't be more clear than this:" Poles began. "No one in our entire building, none of our coaches see Justin as a finger pointer at all. He's always taken ownership of anything that's happened on the field."
So what's going on with Fields and his struggles and his struggles to explain his struggles?
"In my opinion you have young quarterback trying to figure it out, a guy who hasn't had the cleanest start to his career, who last year with the roster had to put the team on the back, did some unbelievable things athletically," Poles said.
"Now he gets talent around him and has to figure out and balance when to do those cool things athletically, when to lean on others. And that sometimes is a great place to live in. And that takes time on task for him to take that next step."
Poles insists the Bears are doing things the "right way" and painted a picture of an organization that is doing what it needs to achieve longterm success.
"No one in our building is panicking," Poles said. "No one is flinching at any situations. Not our owner, our president. Not our head coach. And not myself. None of our players. Everyone's focused on solving the issues we have to be a better football team."
That sounds good. But that doesn't account for things that happen behind the scenes and even in public.
And that happened an hour or so after Poles talked.
That when an in-game video of Sunday's loss came out in which Buc linebacker Devin White tells Bears receiver D.J. Moore, who used to play the Bucs twice a year when he was in the NFC South, the Bears aren't using him right.
"Oh," Moore responds. "Tell me about it."