There was plenty of frustration for the Bears in last Sunday’s loss to the Lions. That’s what happens when you’re getting blown out by a division rival and sent to your ninth straight loss.
At one point, receiver Chase Claypool had an outburst when coming to the sideline during another failed drive on offense. He threw his helmet to the ground and was voicing his frustration with receivers coach Tyke Tolbert before quarterback Justin Fields came over to talk to him.
“I was all fired up because we can’t lose that bad, ever,” Claypool said Thursday, via NBC Sports Chicago. “We have to have a little bit more pride, a little bit more heart, so it don’t happen again.
“I was coming off the field, three-and-out, sit on the bench, do the same thing over,” Claypool continued. “Something’s gotta change in that moment. We gotta realize the drives where we have to score. We have to realize when it’s not OK to go three-and-out. We gotta act that way. If we go three-and-out, it can’t just be OK. And it isn’t. But we gotta really have that fire and energy and realize that, yo, it’s time to go. We went three-and-out two times in a row. They’re scoring points. The lead’s getting bigger. What are we gonna do about it?”
Claypool said that he and Fields talked things over and came to a “common ground.”
It’s easy to see why Claypool was frustrated. Not only was the offense going nowhere in that game, but it’s been a rough start for him since he was traded to Chicago in November. Claypool has just 12 receptions for 111 yards in six games.
But Claypool was adamant about last Sunday’s outburst not being about not getting the ball.
“I’ll never do that,” Claypool said. “Only time I get frustrated like that is if we’re losing and I feel like I could be doing more. I’ll never get frustrated and say, ‘Throw me the ball more, throw me the ball.’ Maybe I’ll say, ‘Hey, I was open. I want to make a play for the team, we’re down.’ But never about my stats. I don’t care about my stats.”
While the Bears have been riding a brutal losing streak — which could hit 10 games on Sunday — there was something different about Matt Eberflus’ team last Sunday against Detroit.
Because for all of the struggles and all of the losing, this team has continued to fight and hang with some of the league’s best teams. For Claypool, he was disappointed in the effort put forth against the Lions.
“Even if it was 31-10 or whatever in the third quarter, we can still win that game,” Claypool said. “You see what the Vikings did down 33-0 at halftime. We’re always in every game, no matter what the score is, for the most part, until that final whistle blows.
“So it’s like, I just want to feel that belief. I want to feel it. We’re a good team. We’re going to be a good team next year. But we have to be real uncomfortable with losing.”
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