Bears coach Matt Eberflus said disgruntled wide receiver Chase Claypool won’t be at Halas Hall this week and won’t play Thursday against the Commanders. That almost certainly signals the end of his run with the team after just 10 games.
Eberflus wouldn’t answer whether the Bears will keep Claypool away until they trade or waive him and said general manager Ryan Poles will handle any potential transaction.
“Right now, we’re just having him stay [not] in the building this week,” Eberflus said. “Ryan does all the trades and transactions, and we’ll decide that as we go forward.”
When asked directly if the Bears are done with him, Eberflus replied, “All I’m saying right now is he’s not in the building this week.”
The Bears benched Claypool ahead of their 31-28 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, and that appeared to be a point of no return in the ongoing mess.
Eberflus said he and Poles called Claypool on Saturday to tell him not to come to Halas Hall that day or to Soldier Field for the game. After meeting with Poles on Sunday, they called Claypool again Monday morning and informed he was not allowed back this week.
Claypool has four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown this season.
When asked Monday about the factors that led to this outcome with Claypool, Eberflus gave a broad answer about how punctuality, respect and effort are key components of the Bears’ standard, implying that Claypool had issues in those areas.
“When I came here, Day 1, I talked about being on time, being respectful and working hard,” Eberflus said when asked what factors led to Claypool being sent away. “That is important for every individual — if it’s a staff member, a player or a coach. That’s where we are. We feel right now this is the best decision for us.”
So those must be the issues with Claypool?
“We have a standard for that, and if those standards are met, then everything’s good,” he said. “If it’s not, then it’s not.”
The Claypool debacle stands as the biggest mistake of the Poles-Eberflus era. They got into a bidding war with the Packers when the Steelers were looking to trade him last year and gave up a second-round pick that ultimately was No. 32 overall.
When he got off to a slow start last season with just 14 catches for 140 yards in seven games, the Bears repeatedly defended him and asked for patience. Everyone from Eberflus to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to Justin Fields said he needed time to learn the offense and acclimate to a new team.
Fields backed him again Sunday, saying “of course” he wanted Claypool to stay on the team.
That transition period was supposed to be over by now, but Eberflus made reference again recently to Claypool adapting to the scheme.
This season began with Claypool missing time because of an injury during training camp and, when he did practice, starting confrontations with teammates on the field. Then, in the opener against the Packers, he gave such a poor effort blocking on some plays that he later apologized to the team.
As the situation deteriorated, Claypool pushed it over the edge Friday by venting that the Bears were not putting him in the best position to succeed.
“Every situation has the ability to be ideal — we’re just working towards that,” Claypool said. “I wouldn’t say that it’s not an ideal place for me.
“Obviously, there’s other places. You can say, ‘Oh, I want to be on the best offense with the highest passing yards,’ but that doesn’t happen in football. You just have to make do with what you’ve got.”
When asked how the Bears should be using him, Claypool said, “I’ll let them decide that. I’m not gonna give any pointers. That’s their job to decide, and I’ll just do what they tell me to do.”
Bears tight end Cole Kmet, a college teammate of Claypool’s at Notre Dame, pointed to the fact that the team hadn’t won a game during Claypool’s time with the team and he wasn’t producing.
“It’s hard to deal with it, but we’ve all gotta be adults about it,” Kmet said. “That can be hard to do when things aren’t going your way and maybe you’re not getting the targets you want and you’re not winning.
“All those things kinda add up and you get frustrated, but you have to be a man about it, be an adult about it, and be able to reset your mind each and every week and just look to improve yourself.”
