Bears coach Marc Trestman, during his normal Monday press conference, indicated that on the heels of one of the most disturbing losses in franchise history to arch rival Green Bay, that he maintained total belief in his coaching staff and his players. Trestman said about embattled defensive coordinator Mel Tucker in particular:
I watch him work every day. I watch him communicate with these players. I watch him work on the field with these players. To me he’s doing everything he can under the circumstances to coach, to teach and to lead that side of the ball, and he’s got a very good staff with him. They’re great teachers, they’re veteran coaches who have been in a lot of situations, as Mel has. He’s been through these types of things, and I feel very confident that he’s doing the things that he can do to help us go forward.
That’s interesting, as Mel Tucker’s short and unfulfilled tenure as the defensive coordinator has been no less than a coaching disaster.
The Bears, and in particular Marc Trestman and Phil Emery, have now officially gone down the path of the insane, as they apparently think doing the same thing, saying the same things, and playing football games the same way will somehow miraculously lead to better results. As a Twitter follower, let me describe just some of things going down today that should make Trestman and Emery a little more urgent about considering change:
- Fans are burning Jay Cutler jerseys. Even the fans who still had faith in Cutler, have now lost it. He’s damaged goods now, fair or not. He’s an easy scapegoat for all that ails this team, but once the fans turn on a player fully it’s over.
- The media is on the warpath, in particular local media who probably also claim to be Bears fans not just Bears reporters. Rick Morrissey of the Sun Times has now published an article calling for fans to boycott this Sunday’s home game against the Minnesota Vikings.
- In the new age of social media, the Bears as a whole are taking a beating. I know coach-speak is to tune it all out, but at some point you simply cannot.
Today was the time when change, regardless if it helped this downward spiral to the season, should have taken place because it simply had to be done. Anything, anything to physically acknowledge that things are not going well. Talk is cheap, and Trestman’s ability to talk to the media has now forever taken a damaging blow.