Bears Rumors: Players Had 'a Buildup of Anger,' Felt Matt Eberflus Was 'Insincere'

The Chicago Bears locker room reached a critical mass with head coach Matt Eberflus that necessitated his ouster, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

On the newest episode of the Scoop City podcast, Russini cited a player who said they "have never been in a locker room like this" after Chicago's 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

She reported the reaction as "a buildup of anger and disappointment." The players also believed Eberflus consistently didn't take the blame for his own mistakes in the past, so "it felt disingenuous and insincere" when he tried being more accountable.

Russini's reporting echoes what she and colleague Adam Jahns detailed in their story shortly after the Bears fired Eberflus.

There was plenty of frustration with Chicago's puzzling clock management late in the Lions loss, as the offense managed to run just one play in the final 30 seconds despite having a timeout.

The Athletic report laid out how the support for Eberflus steadily eroded over time for a number of reasons beyond that.

The last-second defeat to the Washington Commanders in Week 8 may have been the point of no return, with one player telling Jahns and Russini it was "when [Eberflus] lost the defensive guys." They questioned why he didn't call a timeout to reset the defense prior to Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary pass to Noah Brown.

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was cited by Jahns and Russini as calling out Eberflus directly in the locker room after the Lions game. During an appearance Monday on 670 The Score, he effectively corroborated the reporting and alluded to how the general sentiment toward the coach had been building.

The Bears are 4-8 and well off the pace for the final wild-card spot in the NFC. They probably waited too late to fire Eberflus if the ultimate goal was reviving their postseason hopes.

Still, it has become abundantly clear Chicago couldn't hold off on the change any longer. The atmosphere within the team grew toxic and wasn't going to improve over the final month.