Matt Eberflus will have another chance to frame the way Sunday’s game ended — and to announce whether or not he plans to discipline cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — when he meets the media Wednesday before a Bears walk-though.
Thus far, Eberflus’ previous two explanations for how in the world the Bears allowed a 52-yard Hail Mary have fallen short. Eberflus wouldn’t say Monday whether he planned to punish Stevenson, who had his back to the ball, too busy gesticulating to fans, when the final play was snapped. The Bears lost on a walk-off touchdown to the Commanders by a score of 18-15.
Stevenson’s histrionics became a national punchline, with everyone from former Patriots coach Bill Belichick to Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz weighing in.
That Eberflus’ players have cast doubt on the coaching staff’s strategy at the end of the game isn’t helping the head coach. It’s not uncommon for players to voice their opinions publicly, but it’s less so on a team that, in recent years, has remained relatively buttoned-up.
Speaking on WSCR-AM’s “Spiegel & Holmes” in a paid appearance Monday afternoon, cornerback Jaylon Johnson said “there were a whole lot of things that could have been done differently” at the end of the game. He said Eberflus, who had all three of his timeouts left, could have taken one before the Hail Mary.
“It was a rushed situation when it didn’t have to be,” Johnson said. “I feel like we definitely could’ve slowed down. I feel like we could’ve possibly taken a timeout to get everybody situated.”
He said that “there are times, really top to bottom, when we aren’t detailed enough, or detailed in the right stuff.”
Tight end Cole Kmet referenced something similar Monday, saying that last week he noticed situations where players would “lay off here and there” during practice. He framed that as a player-based problem, though.
“If you’re in the weight room, are you doing all six reps or are you doing five reps and getting out of there? When you’re on the field, are you hitting the jugs after practice? Are you doing this? Is your footwork correct in the walk-through?” he said. “Just those little things that can’t necessarily always be addressed by a coach or another teammate, but things that you do in the dark that really come to fruition on game day.”
Safety Kevin Byard said he discussed the penultimate play — in which the Bears allowed a 13-yard completion to Terry McLaurin because their defense played back — with Eberflus. He said he deferred to the coach’s experience and that Eberflus was receptive to the conversation.
“I think it’s a lot of different ways you can defend those plays,” he said. “Me personally, I think that in that scenario possibly could’ve had the corners pressed up there because they just ran two out cuts and the play was called just to get a couple more yards to throw it down the field.”