Ryan Poles addresses adversity facing the Chicago Bears: ‘No one is panicking’

The Chicago Bears are the epicenter of the NFL world for all the wrong reasons right now.

Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned.

Quarterback Justin Fields expressed his frustration with the offense and, to a degree, the coaching staff.

Left tackle Braxton Jones was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury.

And that was all on a Wednesday afternoon before a Week 3 showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium.

Not great.

General manager Ryan Poles met with reporters Thursday to calm the storm.

“To be really clear, I know there’s outside noise, but no one in our building is panicking,” Poles said from Halas Hall. “Nobody is flinching at any situations. Not our owner. Not our president. Not our head coach. Not myself. None of our players.

‘Everybody is focusing on solving the issues we have so we can become a better football team.”

Poles has no choice but to put on a brave face right now, but it’s hard to imagine an NFL team in a worse position this early in the season.

The optimism and expectations around the Bears were high as the 2023 season kicked off, largely because of the expected development of Justin Fields and the improvements Poles made to the roster during the offseason. But a horrendous 0-2 start and the dysfunction that’s followed has quickly flipped the narrative around this team.

If the Chiefs demolish the Chicago Bears on Sunday, there’s no telling what will happen next. It’s rare for an organization to fire a head coach and general manager after just three games into their second season, but there’s more than wins and losses at play, the Bears are a dysfunctional organization right now, and whenever that happens, the leadership has to go.

Here’s to hoping Matt Eberflus can rally his troops and compete against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs this Sunday. It may be his last chance to prove he can do it.

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