Mired in yet another long losing streak, there’s lots of talk about how the Bears can improve, or what the Bears need to do to finally break through for a win. There’s talk about getting tight ends involved on offense. There’s talk about eliminating defensive miscues and silly mistakes. There’s talk about sticking together and growing as a team.
But Jaylon Johnson says the time for talk is over.
“How many games have we lost in a row?” said Johnson.”There's nothing to talk about. We aren't going to beat a dead horse. We are all men. Coming in here and saying ‘we have to figure out a way,’ to me it's BS.
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“We have to find ways to win, we just have to get it done. Whatever it is. Like I said, whatever it is but there's nothing to keep coming in here and talking about, and having all these rah-rah speeches. We've had five weeks of rah-rah speeches. I don't think that talking is anything we need to be doing."
It’s easy to understand where Johnson is coming from. Over the past five games the Bears have been blown out, they’ve made mental errors, they’ve rallied from big deficits to take fourth quarter leads only to squander the game at the end, and throughout it all they’ve said they would learn and grow and do better. But the result has been the same.
Against the Ravens, the play that drew the most attention was a busted coverage which led to the 29-yard bomb to Sammy Watkins on 3rd-and-12, which set up Devonta Freeman’s go-ahead score.
“We need to change,” Johnson said. “The defensive backs. At the end of the day, we’ve just got to be better. Whatever it is, if it’s communication, if it’s execution, if it’s lack of focus, whatever it is in that moment, we have to lock in and make a conscious effort just to execute. Whatever it is.”
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The frustration is clearly building within the players. It’s palpable when they addressed the media following Sunday’s game, and Monday afternoon. Now we’ll see if they’ll be able to channel it in a positive way when they face the Lions on Thanksgiving, or if that frustration will cause the Bears to spiral to new lows.