Following Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, it was hard to imagine things at Halas Hall getting any worse. The Bears had scored just 12 points total in the last few weeks. Matt Eberflus couldn’t call into a radio show without it becoming a fiasco. Shane Waldron was fired. Chaos engulfed the Bears.
Then to add to that chaos was the report that not only was Waldron out, but a few veterans reportedly expressed the desire for a change at quarterback from Caleb Williams to Tyson Bagent.
Fortunately, a pair of Bears veterans shot down that report today. While Cole Kmet wasn’t a part of the press conferences, Kevin Powell of WGN Radio reported that Kmet completely shot down the speculation that players were calling for Tyson Bagent.
DJ Moore did meet with the media at the podium during today’s availability. And while he never officially denied that anyone asked for Bagent, he did come out in full support of Caleb Williams. Moore added that while concerns were voiced about Shane Waldron, no one asked for a change. Here are a few highlights from Moore’s availability:
Does Caleb Williams Have Bears Veterans Full Support?
My guess is that yes, Caleb does have the full support of the Bears pass catchers and veterans. Are Kmet and Moore frustrated by the lack of production on offense? Of course, and they should be. But was it entirely Caleb Williams’ fault that they weren’t being used correctly or targeted enough? Also, no.
Not only did Moore and Kmet publically back their quarterback, but Matt Eberflus did as well in Monday’s press conference saying that Williams was absolutely going to still be the starter.
I’m not sure what’s going on at Halas Hall. It seems like there’s a little bit of a lack of leadership at the top, and that might be trickling down to the players a bit. The players have every right to be frustrated with the results thus far, but also with many of the coaching decisions being made.
As Luis said this morning, this feels so much like last year when it was completely obvious that someone within the organization leaked the narrative that Tyson Bagent was a better fit for the offense than Justin Fields. Obviously, that was untrue, but someone had a motive for that narrative to get out. I’m not sure who has that motive now, but this feels a whole lot like that situation last year.
I’m happy the pair of veteran leaders came out and publically backed their quarterback. That should at least ease the attention on that story for now, though another bad Sunday, and that could flare up again. Let’s just hope Thomas Brown taking over as offensive coordinator sparks the offense, Caleb Williams plays well, and this whole narrative pushing can go away.
And by the way, this is nothing against Tyson Bagent. I think he’s a very solid backup quarterback option and by all accounts, he’s a great teammate. But I just believe there is no reason that as long as Caleb is healthy Bagent should see any time other than mop-up duty.