The Chicago Bears lost another game on Sunday thanks more to their own mistakes than the opponent being outright better than them. This is a theme that has followed them since last year. Too many times it felt like the Bears simply weren’t well-prepared. Washington was no exception as both the offense and defense suffered ill-timed lapses that ultimately cost them the game. Cole Kmet stated after the game that guys weren’t taking things seriously enough in practice that week. This immediately raised red flags about what the coaching was doing for the past two weeks. Now, Jaylon Johnson echoed the same words.
The Pro Bowl cornerback appeared on 670 The Score, where he was asked about Kmet’s comments. Per usual, Johnson was straightforward and blunt. He agreed with everything his fellow captain said. There have been too many times since last season where guys were ignoring the smaller details, which inevitably led to big mistakes.
They can’t expect to win a championship that way.
“I mean, that’s the truth, honestly. At the end of the day, there’s definitely times for us – of course, we’re never going to do everything 100% correct, nobody is going to be perfect – but I definitely felt like there are times really top to bottom that we’re not either detailed enough or detailing the right stuff. Guys, I would say, not locked in to their assignments. We’re not redoing plays or we’re kind of, if somebody messes up, we’re not correcting it in that moment. Like you said, respecting the game, being detailed, giving a damn enough to really just do things the right way – and I think there’s plenty of things for us to either do or the things that we are doing, do better…
…At the end of the day, we need to do things better, have a better operation throughout the week, a better way of detailing things. At the end of the day, we’ve got to take that from practice into the game and ultimately make the plays we need to make to win the games that we need to win.”
Jaylon Johnson is indicating something is wrong.
These aren’t non-descript players voicing their displeasure as anonymous sources to the media. These are the captains of the football team outright saying that the way the coaches are conducting this entire operation is faulty. Remember, they already had what amounts to an intervention with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after the disastrous start to the season. Players aren’t supposed to be the ones constantly making up for the coaching staff’s mistakes. Stuff like this can fester if not corrected. Matt Eberflus is in his third season. Jaylon Johnson and the players know what he’s about. If they’re grumbling like this, it is a warning sign that they are starting to wonder if he doesn’t have what it takes. The remaining ten games could decide a lot about the Bears’ future.
@ What do I know. Thanks. I guess your are perfect.
“axed for an error” no one is saying this. Those straw men sure are easy to knock down though, ain’t they? JJ is echoing the standard of excellence that Kmet voiced earlier. The players know what championship teams do… They practice, they prepare and conduct themselves as professionals, knowing they have a limited window to achieve their goals in the game, and it takes all 11 players on the field. When their coaches don’t follow this standard, it costs them dearly as that standard slips and permeates the team. I’m not the kind of guy who watches the Bears week… Read more »
Reading way too much into this. JJ is a great detailed player who has gotten older and he cares a lot. I have a ton of respect for him and I can see why he was re-signed to a new deal. The team was right to do so. It’s OK if he complains about getting better. He’s a leader. Stevenson made a major mistake last Sunday. Stevenson has been up and down his career but he’s very good. We’re talking about a real talent that wants to be great. He may not be mature but he is the kind of… Read more »