Another crushing, confounding loss for the Chicago Bears meant another postgame speech about “sticking together” from head coach Matt Eberflus in front of a frustrated, crowded locker room at Ford Field in Detroit.
This time, though, team captain Jaylon Johnson wasn’t having it.
Not after another winnable game slipped away — a 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving.
Not after another day of highly questionable coaching decisions.
This postgame message required a different tone, a different vibe, and probably a different voice. Like a lot of Bears players, Johnson had had enough. Sick of finding new ways to give games away, they wanted accountability and answers.
“Jaylon went crazy,” one Bears player said. “He was very emotional and pissed but rightfully so. He’s been here longer than most.”
Said another player: “He was going off more so at (Eberflus).”
According to multiple players and staffers in the locker room, some players were asking why Eberflus didn’t call a timeout. Other players got going, too.
“Guys were furious,” a staff member said. “It was an accumulation of this season.”
“The locker room was ugly,” another staffer said. “There was a lot of yelling.”
Said the first player: “We felt as players it’s been too many instances where we fought our way back into games to lose because of bad time management and decision-making.”
Read more here from Matt Eberflus’ firing.
GO FURTHER
The Bears finally fired Matt Eberflus. But he lost the locker room long ago
