The Chicago Bears are on the clock! OFFSEASON OPEN THREAD!

[ChileBear]

1 hour ago, adam said:

So Ryan Leaf reincarnated? 

Sure hope not. But, if he plays like Peyton Manning I couldn't care less about his attitude. And lets face it, if Poles drafts him and he does ball out I really doubt the locker room will give a s#*t either.

[adam]

10 hours ago, ChileBear said:

Sure hope not. But, if he plays like Peyton Manning I couldn't care less about his attitude. And lets face it, if Poles drafts him and he does ball out I really doubt the locker room will give a s#*t either.

It's a business. Very rarely do you have teammates that are together for more than 4-5 years anyway. I would say it is extremely rare to have teammates longer than that unless you join the team relatively at the same time, and both sign long term extensions.

[Stinger226]

Long term, it won't matter but to say it has no effect is a little premature. The coaches culture is (we're in this together) creates a family atmosphere and in the beginning acceptance will take some time. The main reason Flus is back is because the team bought in to his culture. 

If the new QB comes in and balls out , it will be a short term situation but if he comes in here with a big ego and struggles, it will create a bad atmosphere for awhile. I have heard 6  interviews by star players and they all think Justin should stay . The latest one was JJ and  he said if the coaches did better and a few more weapons , he would ball out. 

On the exit interviews if the whole team had that attitude, Poles and Flus will pay attention to that narrative. All of it really blows up if Justin goes somewhere else balling out and Caleb struggles.

The Chargers have a talented roster and clearly somewhere  along the line, they gave up on their coach. Football is an emotionally sport, hard to say how it affects the players. 

[Daventry]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Long term, it won't matter but to say it has no effect is a little premature. The coaches culture is (we're in this together) creates a family atmosphere and in the beginning acceptance will take some time. The main reason Flus is back is because the team bought in to his culture. 

If the new QB comes in and balls out , it will be a short term situation but if he comes in here with a big ego and struggles, it will create a bad atmosphere for awhile. I have heard 6  interviews by star players and they all think Justin should stay . The latest one was JJ and  he said if the coaches did better and a few more weapons , he would ball out. 

On the exit interviews if the whole team had that attitude, Poles and Flus will pay attention to that narrative. All of it really blows up if Justin goes somewhere else balling out and Caleb struggles.

The Chargers have a talented roster and clearly somewhere  along the line, they gave up on their coach. Football is an emotionally sport, hard to say how it affects the players. 

I think there is a good chance that the players saying Justin should stay are saying what they think they should say.  Who knows what they really think?  And does anyone really think Poles is not going to do what he thinks is best for the team to avoid upsetting the players?  Much ado about nothing.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, Daventry said:

I think there is a good chance that the players saying Justin should stay are saying what they think they should say.  Who knows what they really think?  And does anyone really think Poles is not going to do what he thinks is best for the team to avoid upsetting the players?  Much ado about nothing.

Of course not, Po!es is doing what he wants no matter who doesn't like it but he values leadership, hard worker, tough, team guy. It will make him think about those things when bringing someone else in. It's a temporary situation no matter who he brings in, but he will take in to count what players he respects has to say. It would be just part of the overall assessment of a new player.

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Daventry said:

I think there is a good chance that the players saying Justin should stay are saying what they think they should say.  Who knows what they really think?  And does anyone really think Poles is not going to do what he thinks is best for the team to avoid upsetting the players?  Much ado about nothing.

thank you - players generally will say good things about their QB

[Alaskan Grizzly]

On 1/15/2024 at 10:49 AM, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Him and Mahomes only two players in FCS history with 10 games with at least 5tds. 

I'm assuming you mean Williams?  If so, his backup scored 6TDs in his sole start. That being the bowl game that Williams chose to sit out.  Could it be Moss continue that trend and be the 'next best thing' coming?  🤷‍♂️

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, Daventry said:

I think there is a good chance that the players saying Justin should stay are saying what they think they should say.  Who knows what they really think?  And does anyone really think Poles is not going to do what he thinks is best for the team to avoid upsetting the players?  Much ado about nothing.

How do you suppose they decided to keep Flus on as HC? Solely on his improvement of the Defense or???

[Daventry]

7 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

How do you suppose they decided to keep Flus on as HC? Solely on his improvement of the Defense or???

So you are implying the ownership were swayed by player sentiment?  Lol, here is a more realistic explanation, cheap skate ownership don’t want to eat the contract money.  Another more realistic explanation is that we have finished year two of a four year rebuild.  

[BearFan PHX]

7 minutes ago, Daventry said:

So you are implying the ownership were swayed by player sentiment?  Lol, here is a more realistic explanation, cheap skate ownership don’t want to eat the contract money.  Another more realistic explanation is that we have finished year two of a four year rebuild.  

correct

[AZ54]

31 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

thank you - players generally will say good things about their QB

I never thought I’d see this written from a bears fan.   I don’t even need to list our decades long QB history.  

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, Daventry said:

I think there is a good chance that the players saying Justin should stay are saying what they think they should say.  Who knows what they really think?  And does anyone really think Poles is not going to do what he thinks is best for the team to avoid upsetting the players?  Much ado about nothing.

I listened to interviews of JJ, Brisker, DJ, and Sweat on a regular basis and you can get an impression on how truthful they speak. Easy to right off if you didn't see the interviews. People like to pretend things are no big deal if they say something they don't like and love stuff if people agree with them. The truth is , it's more about your perspective that actually paying attention to what they say. Everyone does that and none of it matters. The only thing that matters is what Poles thinks and so far the only thing we know is he thinks things are progressing well or he wouldn't have brought Flus back.

 

8 minutes ago, Daventry said:

So you are implying the ownership were swayed by player sentiment?  Lol, here is a more realistic explanation, cheap skate ownership don’t want to eat the contract money.  Another more realistic explanation is that we have finished year two of a four year rebuild.  

The ownership turned the team over to Poles and Warren, which leads to believe it's solely on them with the decisions. Glad you realize we are still rebuilding and we're not even  into year 3 so their not in tear it down mode yet.

[BearFan PHX]

29 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I never thought I’d see this written from a bears fan.   I don’t even need to list our decades long QB history.  

we've had a bunch of awful QBs in our history, but is there a history of players throwing the QB under the bus? I dont remember it, but Im open to any examples Im not thinking of?

[AZ54]

45 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

we've had a bunch of awful QBs in our history, but is there a history of players throwing the QB under the bus? I dont remember it, but Im open to any examples Im not thinking of?

Urlacher had a somewhat public run in with Cutler.   Mike GLemon didn’t garner any vote of confidence.   Trubisky either.   Kyle Orton.  Rex Grossman.  This is getting depressing 

[BearFan PHX]

20 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Urlacher had a somewhat public run in with Cutler.   Mike GLemon didn’t garner any vote of confidence.   Trubisky either.   Kyle Orton.  Rex Grossman.  This is getting depressing 

Im not saying that the fans and the press didnt dislike Bears QBs. Youre 100% right about that. Weve had a ton of awful QBs.

But it kind of makes my point. Even though they were awful I dont recall players calling out their QBs or throwing them under the bus?

So, what players say to the press about their current starting QB may not be the whole truth.

Add to that that Justin is liked in the locker room. But you can tell me DJ Moore will be upset when a new QB comes in and get him the ball on time. That's really what we are talking about here. No matter how much love a QB gets from players in interviews, it doesnt mean that behind the scenes they dont personally see Justins flaws.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, Daventry said:

Another more realistic explanation is that we have finished year two of a four year rebuild.  

This I would agree with.  And part of that may involve keeping what they know in Justin versus an unknown in how the (potential) #1 overall pick may perform.  To answer your question about player sentiment; why else do you think they do exit interviews for everyone? 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

Urlacher had a somewhat public run in with Cutler.   Mike GLemon didn’t garner any vote of confidence.   Trubisky either.   Kyle Orton.  Rex Grossman.  This is getting depressing 

Was just going to say that. 

The alternative to vocalizing your support for the QB is saying nothing at all.  DJ Moore was asked repeatedly about what he thought about Fields being the QB next year.  Every time he was in support of Justin.  He was even quoted as saying the two top draft candidates in the QB position aren't as good as Fields.  And he followed that up to say it was the 'guys upstairs' who eventually will make those decisions.

 

[Daventry]

25 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

This I would agree with.  And part of that may involve keeping what they know in Justin versus an unknown in how the (potential) #1 overall pick may perform.  To answer your question about player sentiment; why else do you think they do exit interviews for everyone? 

Probably to get a sense of the players views and make a show of paying attention to the players views.  I am sure they are interested in players views and opinions but will that be a dominant part of decision making?  No way IMO.   This whole subject seems another attempt to justify keeping Fields, kind of like the cherry picked stats game that is popular.  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

17 minutes ago, Daventry said:

This whole subject seems another attempt to justify keeping Fields, kind of like the cherry picked stats game that is popular.  

I suppose if we all signed off on the same belief this place would be rather boring n'est pas?  😎

[Stinger226]

33 minutes ago, Daventry said:

Probably to get a sense of the players views and make a show of paying attention to the players views.  I am sure they are interested in players views and opinions but will that be a dominant part of decision making?  No way IMO.   This whole subject seems another attempt to justify keeping Fields, kind of like the cherry picked stats game that is popular.  

Whether you like Fields or don't, everyone posts  points like iit'st references from the Bible. Fields has good and bad traits , it's his consistency that's the problem. What matters is if Poles thinks he can improve, he may keep him around, or he finds a Mahomes type in the draft , he will draft him. He's not using fan's poles to make his decisions.

[BearFan PHX]

34 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

I suppose if we all signed off on the same belief this place would be rather boring n'est pas?  😎

oooo French! This place is getting classy! LOL

[Daventry]

37 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

I suppose if we all signed off on the same belief this place would be rather boring n'est pas?  😎

Haha, fair point. 

[Stinger226]

I'm thinking more stuff should be posted here instead spread around on other threads. A lot of people say Flus is a lame duck coach? If I remember, Poles got 5 years, Flus 4 years, did I get that wrong ? If people are saying it on the basis of him being bad,  the team if trending to a winning season if Poles adds as much talent as he did in 2023. I think it can easily be stated we're going to have more wins than losses. Now if we draft a QB and we get a Byce Young performance, Poles  job will start to be in jeopardy which takes down Flus also. 

That's why I'm thinking Poles stays according to his plan than flipping QBs. I also believe he adds a QB to develop as early as the second round to cover both scenarios. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

32 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

I'm thinking more stuff should be posted here instead spread around on other threads. A lot of people say Flus is a lame duck coach? If I remember, Poles got 5 years, Flus 4 years, did I get that wrong ? If people are saying it on the basis of him being bad,  the team if trending to a winning season if Poles adds as much talent as he did in 2023. I think it can easily be stated we're going to have more wins than losses. Now if we draft a QB and we get a Byce Young performance, Poles  job will start to be in jeopardy which takes down Flus also. 

That's why I'm thinking Poles stays according to his plan than flipping QBs. I also believe he adds a QB to develop as early as the second round to cover both scenarios. 

Valid question. Especially given teams that were just in the playoffs; Dallas, Philly and now the Bills, were or have started questioning their HC options going into the new season.  I agree that getting the Bears to 7-10 this year was a marked improvement, especially if you consider how they started versus how they ended the season (winning 4 of the last 6 games).

[BearFan PHX]

When I was 13 I grew 2 inches that year. I was expecting at that rate to be 12 and a half feet tall by now.

If you just graduated high school, were unemployed and then got a job at McDonalds, you might think at that rate of increasing salary, youd be a billionaire by 40.

When you are below average it is not unexpected to move up. But to think that moving toward average means you are improving, and therefore will be great someday is a logical fallacy. Especially when the quality of your roster is improving,

Eberflus and Fields are not going to win Superbowls for this team. Yes they went from crap to eh. And that was a big improvement. So what? if Eberflus had gone missing and they got another head coach in before preseason this past year, any NFL coach would have gotten at least 7-10.

The McDonalds worker hasnt had to compete with an MBA yet. As you get closer to the middle, the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

You need to be great to be great. Going from 3-14 to 7-10 is not a show of greatness.