Are Ryan Pace and John Fox feeling pressure to win in Year 3?

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Nine wins. Twenty-three losses.

That's how most bottom-line Bears fans evaluate what general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox have done in two seasons. And the rebuild (whether it was characterized that way or not upon their hiring in January 2015) is continuing at a pace that's too slow for some, what with a 2017 playoff berth at this point still a long shot.

So what happens in January 2018 for the tandem if all they can muster is a 5-11 or 6-10 season? How would they expect to be evaluated by Virginia and George McCaskey? And would they feel vulnerable about keeping their jobs? Neither directly answered that question as they met the media while players reported to Bourbonnais Wednesday. They shifted the focus to the here-and-now, which is all they probably can do. 

But they certainly understand it comes with the territory.

"There's a pressure on all of us," Pace said. "There's a ton of pressure on me and we all know what we signed up for. I think the focus now is on winning games. But if there's one thing I can share with John, and things I appreciate every day is, it's very difficult to change a culture. And John is doing that while we're also getting younger. There's pressure on all of us. It's about winning games.

"I think we've all seen good teams ascend, and it starts with the quality of the character in the locker room."

That's all Pace and Fox can clearly state since putting a number on a win total is difficult for any team at this time of year. But that character throughout the locker room, coaching staff, and all of Halas Hall will certainly be tested with another slow start. Pace and Fox haven't won a September game yet after two seasons.

"I'm beyond feeling the pressure part of it," said Fox. "As a coach, you put pressure on yourself. I think there's a lot of people in that building, in those stands on Sundays, they want to see a winner bad. Every year, whether it's this year or the last two years, that's been the main focus and main objective."

When Fox was hired, he talked about how that one Lombardi Trophy in the lobby of Halas Hall looked lonely. No one expects an addition this year.

But one can expect ownership wants to see a team that's turning the corner.

"That conversation is always on-going," Pace said. "I just think they want to see continued improvement. I think they know there's no quick fix. We've talked about that. It's about building this team the right way, with the right kind of guys. And we've just got to show progress.

"I think we will. I think as we go forward our fans are gonna see a tough, blue-collar, grind-it-out team that's on an ascension."

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