The tumult over, Bears players embracing the post-Matt Eberflus era
Bears tight end Cole Kmet is a Matt Eberflus guy.
While teammates have not been shy about challenging Eberflus in the locker room -after frustrating losses, questioning Eberflus’ -in-game decisions or bemoaning the lack of accountability by him and his coaching staff, Kmet has been the most loyal soldier.
“I’m still going to go about my process throughout the week and do what I do, but it’s hard when you take in the human side of it — the emotions to it. It’s a lot to deal with,” Kmet said Thursday. “Coach is a guy I’ve developed a really good relationship with over the past three years. It’s definitely hard to say goodbye to people when things like this happen. But it’s also part of the business.”
But even Kmet acknowledges the reality that in tough times, change is good. After the frustration of too many prominent players reached a breaking point following the loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field, the firing of Eberflus has given the Bears a chance to exhale. Nobody knows where it will lead, but the breath of fresh air is a good start.
“Yeah, I will say that — I think there is a little bit of an exhale to it,” Kmet said. “The exhale for me happened [Wednesday], just finally moving on from it when you get on the grass and practice. For me, it always signifies moving on to the next week.”
If there was division in the Bears’ locker room as the losses mounted, it was mostly a matter of degree. Some players were vehement about Eberflus’ culpability, some were annoyed by it but weren’t going to make waves. And others were too focused on doing their own job and just hoped it would get better. But nobody has emerged who thinks firing Eberflus was the wrong move. There was too much at stake.
“There’s obviously been a lot of frustration,” Kmet said. “Frustration happens just because of what we see in the locker room and who we have. We feel like we should be better at this point.
“Look at the three division games we’ve played [a 20-19 loss to the Packers, a 30-27 overtime loss to the Vikings, a 23-20 loss to the Lions]. You tally up the [point differential], it comes to seven points. You’re not far off, but the record is where it’s at right now. You’re a handful of plays from competing for a playoff spot — that’s how close it is. But close isn’t good enough, and we have to find a way to get these results.”
For Kmet, that’s progress. When Matt Nagy was fired after the 2021 season, Justin Fields was 2-8 as a rookie starter with a 73.2 passer rating and the Bears needed a roster overhaul.
“Yeah, I was in that situation when the -previous staff was let go,” Kmet said. “You knew the next year wasn’t going to look so pretty and it obviously didn’t. We’ve got a lot of talent in the room. Caleb being a rookie quarterback on the ascension and looking really good — there’s a lot of promise going forward for sure.”
Kmet is in his fifth NFL season, but wide receiver Keenan Allen is in his 12th. You can tell he has been around.
“Changes happen, but change isn’t always good,” Allen said. “So we’ll see.”
Allen, like many of his teammates is impressed with interim head coach Thomas Brown — who was promoted to offensive coordinator three weeks ago when Shane Waldron was fired.
“His energy, his confidence and probably just knowing the game,” Allen said when asked what about Brown has impressed him the most.
Can he turn this thing around?
“We’ve got to wait and see,” Allen said. “But yeah, I do.”