Some quotes from that Athletic article:
This postgame message required a different tone, a different vibe, and probably a different voice. Like a lot of Bears players, Johnson had had enough. Sick of finding new ways to give games away, they wanted accountability and answers.
“Jaylon went crazy,” one Bears player said. “He was very emotional and pissed but rightfully so. He’s been here longer than most.”
Said another player: “He was going off more so at (Eberflus).”
According to multiple players and staffers in the locker room, some players were asking why Eberflus didn’t call a timeout. Other players got going, too.
“Guys were furious,” a staff member said. “It was an accumulation of this season.”
“The locker room was ugly,” another staffer said. “There was a lot of yelling.”
Said the first player: “We felt as players it’s been too many instances where we fought our way back into games to lose because of bad time management and decision-making.”
Multiple sources added that the emotions were so high between the players and their head coach that Eberflus left the locker room immediately after his speech and the exchange with players. There was nothing left to say. It was a moment for this Bears team that would inevitably force chairman George McCaskey into something the franchise had never done before.
[The article then goes into the Hail Mary loss...] what didn’t sit well with some team leaders was Eberflus avoiding accountability for his own coaching errors. Players pointed to the play before the Hail Mary. Eberflus allowed Commanders quarterback
Jayden Daniels to complete a 13-yard pass on the penultimate play and then didn’t call a timeout before the Hail Mary to discuss his defense and calm emotions.
When he was asked about it by reporters, Eberflus downplayed the importance of Daniels’ 13-yard completion to receiver
Terry McLaurin and even double-downed on his decision, which many believe was among the mistakes.
“That didn’t sit well in the locker room,” a player said.
“It didn’t go over right,” the second player said. “That week is when he lost the defensive guys.”
As the Bears’ losing streak expanded, there was a shift in tone and messaging from Eberflus when discussing the team’s latest problems. He seemed to go out of his way to take the blame for nearly everything. His subsequent attempts to take accountability felt insincere to the players.
By then, it was too little, too late. The damage was done in Washington and in the days that followed.
Eberflus never led his team through that loss.
“As a leader of men,” one of the Bears players said, “you’re supposed to take blame for everything that happens under your watch.”
