Akiem Hicks has expressed many times he wants to continue his career with the Bears. Now that the season is done, he’s set to become a free agent, and when talking about his future this year, he’s often become introspective.
“You guys see me play, you can tell that I play with a lot of passion right?” Hicks said last month. “You can't have that type of passion unless you really care and are truly invested, like with your heart and your feelings and stuff like that, you know?”
Apparently that passion got the better of Hicks last week, and now he may be ending his Bears career on a sour note. According to a report from Adam Jahns, Hicks got in a fight with defensive line coach Chris Rumph during, and after, last week’s Giants game.
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“It was characterized as ‘heated and ugly,’” Jahns wrote. “Coaches, teammates and staff members witnessed the exchange.”
Hicks was absent at all three days of Bears practice last week with an ankle injury. According to Jahns, he wasn’t even at Halas Hall, and didn’t make the trip to Minneapolis for the season finale either.
If a Hicks reunion in Chicago was unlikely before, now it seems completely out of the question.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Hicks said after the Bears’ Week 15 loss to the Vikings. “I don’t know what’s going to happen… if I do end up leaving, I’ll miss it here. I’ve truly loved my time.”
