When Shane Waldron arrived last January, he thought he had a plan for the Chicago Bears’ offense. Three games into the 2024 season, it is glaringly apparent that the plan was ill-conceived. His offense has produced 8, 13, and 16 points in their first three games. They rank 30th in rushing and have allowed 13 sacks on Caleb Williams. Nothing about this approach from Waldron is working. Analysts can’t understand what identity he is trying to go for, leading to all sorts of mental miscues.
Apparently, several members of the Bears offense had seen enough. A leadership council led by Williams, D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, and Marcedes Lewis met with Waldron earlier this week to have a frank discussion about the direction of things. They didn’t hold back, either. The young coordinator praised them for their open and honest communication. When asked about what was said during the meeting, Lewis provided a snippet of the message he and others wanted to convey.
“From the oldest guy in the room – being me – to the youngest guy, don’t feel like you can’t coach us,” Lewis said. “I want to be coached. I want to be great. This is not, you know, this is not for play. This is our job. We understand that. It’s a high… stressful, production-based business and we’ve all got to be doing the same things or everyone gets fired. Ego is supposed to be left at the door. That’s what it’s about. He’s very receptive to that. …
We have doubts, doubts who have done it at a high level. Sometimes, as the coach coming in, you might be walking on eggshells. I just kind of put that to bed. Nobody’s sensitive in here. We want to win games just as bad as you do. It’s a collaborative effort. This is not Pop Warner.”
Those words paint a clear picture of Shane Waldron.
From what Lewis said, it sounds like the coordinator arrived with a somewhat subdued attitude. He wasn’t exactly sure where he stood. It was a new locker room filled with veterans who’d had success before his arrival. That, along with the intimidating task of inheriting a #1 overall pick, must’ve made him gunshy. He focused more on instructing players what to do than trying to coach them. Sometimes, that requires a heavy hand when they aren’t doing things the right way. It goes a long way in explaining the myriad of mental mistakes guys have made for the past month.
This isn’t the first time the leadership council intervened during the season. The same thing happened in 2021 after Justin Fields got sacked nine times in Cleveland. Adjustments were made after that, and things settled down for the most part. Players aren’t dumb. They can see what is wrong with the current situation. There is no fixing it unless they get through to Shane Waldron that certain things have to change. It will be interesting to see what adjustments are made for the upcoming Rams game.
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Gee Veece, Shane has not known such for the first three games, but only now? That is pathetic, especially with a rookie QB. He had six months to have the team to do so. No offensive identity, no running mentality, and no apparent strategic game plan to operationalize what obviously needs to be done in game #4. Apologist!
When an NFL GM “assembles” a hodgepodge of incongruity and mismatches for his “spaghetti against the wall” vision of the on-field future of the Chicago Bears, he deserves “harsh criticism.”
Mr. Poles, your Doordash delivery has arrived.
As usual, the article’s topic is ignored as comments drift off on tangents led by TGena’s constant beef with Poles. I’ll actually react to Lambert’s piece : 1st, I’m encouraged that the players addressed their issues directly with Waldron. They didn’t go behind his back. I think it shows the team is committed to improving the offense. The Bears have high character guys. 2nd, the offense sees the potential in Waldron’s “system” otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered to speak with him to air out their thoughts on how to make things better. 3rd, Waldron knows the solution to winning is… Read more »
@PoochPest — I have always agreed with your view on the importance of competent coaching (a rarity in Chicago — for a number of reasons — the lack of a winning record, foremost among them). But, I think you’ll be disappointed if you expect today’s young NFL players to arrive with the ability (or desire) “to change tack from half to half or series to series.” Christian McCaffrey comes to mind as a RB that possesses sufficient skill in all areas of the game — there must be others(?) But certainly, not many. _____________ Shane Waldron came from a team… Read more »
Well, it’s good to see there’s a conversation going on. Throw some ideas out there.
The question is…why is it even necessary three games in after a lengthy pre-season?
Who will be the first NFL team to incorporate AI in its play calling? Something the Bears should explore. Hey Siri….it’s third and long what’s the call?