NEWSLETTER
John Fox can’t be happy about the results of his first two years as the Chicago Bears’ head coach. There have been 23 losses, just nine wins, and plenty of growing skepticism surrounding his future with the team.
As we’ve discussed, Fox is probably on the hot seat this season, and it could impact how he proceeds with the development of the franchise’s top quarterback prospect. After all, Fox’s replacements could be lurking, waiting in the wings to swoop in and take over a team that used the 2017 NFL Draft as a marketplace to invest in long-term futures rather than plug-and-play starters.
And yet, Fox is still highly regarded as one of the league’s better coaches and could still be in a position to grow with the team and see the Bears’ rebuild through to its end.
But for Fox to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, he’ll need to show some progress with the younger players on his team. Of course, that’s not the only thing. In fact, Fox was telling Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times that he “understands the way it works. It’s a performance-based business, and you’ve gotta win. There can’t be any more pressure on the outside than there is on the inside.”
As Fox gets set to open up his third training camp with the Bears, the veteran head coach dished on a variety of issues that are important to the 2017 campaign. You’ll want to read Finley’s piece in its entirety for full context going into the third year of Fox’s four-year deal.
Something that stood out was Fox’s transparency on the upcoming quarterback situation between Mike Glennon and Mitch Trubisky. You’ll have to read it for yourself to get the full context, but a couple of points were discussed. First, and, as expected, the starting position belongs to Glennon, and there will not be an open competition where he could lose his starting status. Second, while there isn’t much about 2016 you would want to carry over into this season, the relentless nibbling of the injury bug is one thing everyone really hopes is behind them – especially at the quarterback position, where four players lined up under center.
“We won three games running with three different quarterbacks,” Fox told Finley. “That’s not, in this league, a secret for success.”
Injuries hindered any progress the Bears hoped to make after going 6-10 in 2015. The team had 19 players spend time on injured reserve last year, but using three different starting quarterbacks only made matters worse. Ultimately, it’s becoming apparent that the future for Fox is dependent upon the success of his quarterbacks.
And that can’t be a comfortable position when you’re coaching in Chicago.
