The Chicago Bears lost their first two games of the 2023 season in embarrassing fashion. In Week 1, they were humbled by the rival Green Bay Packers. In Week 2, a discombobulated offense wilted at the worst possible time against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And all the while, the Bears have seemingly only been interested in actively fanning the flames of their rampant dysfunction.
On Wednesday, they put their starting left tackle (Braxton Jones) on injured reserve. It was a massive news dump in the context of a day that also saw Justin Fields create controversy with a “coaching” comment and former defensive coordinator Alan Williams resign. At the risk of hyperbole, it was undoubtedly one of the more chaotic days in recent franchise history.
Naturally, after such a firestorm, it behooved someone from the Bears’ front office to speak up and address their current mess. In this case, it was general manager Ryan Poles speaking at the lectern Thursday. He professed that despite all the madness surrounding the winless Bears, they’re not panicking. Not at all. Not one bit.
Hmm, I don’t believe that for one second!
#Bears GM Ryan Poles is meeting with media right now. "We have adversity. No one in our building is panicking. Everyone is focusing on solving the issues that we have."
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 21, 2023
Folks, in case it isn’t clear, most NFL GMs aren’t speaking to the media on a random Thursday in September. They usually speak at the start of training camp and have a few offseason check-ins, at most. For Poles to come out with a verbal fire extinguisher this early in the season is the very definition of panic. It is Leslie Nielsen standing in front of an explosion, asking everyone to please disperse calmly.
Kudos to Poles for trying to step up as a leader, but actions speak so much louder than words.
This was how Twitter reacted to Poles' comment about the Bears apparently staying calm
midweek GM press conference before *checks notes* week 3. everything is fine https://t.co/Iihl2IOOx2
— charles (“you look good” – andy reid) mcdonald (@FourVerts) September 21, 2023
My “we are not panicking” press conference has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my press conference https://t.co/tFsTf6kuXr
— adam (@_adamhess) September 21, 2023
My “No one in our building is panicking. Everyone is focusing on solving the issues that we have” shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt. https://t.co/Mpekb4glD0
— Chris Towers …Is A Real Boy (@CTowersCBS) September 21, 2023
When the GM is meeting with the media after 2 weeks, you're panicking https://t.co/aEODuKlC74
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) September 21, 2023
https://t.co/aYfp0yDTwy pic.twitter.com/Ek0hGJMexU
— Olin kreutz (@olin_kreutz) September 21, 2023
My "No one in our building is panicking" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt. https://t.co/uttwGkp4IO
— seán kivlehan (@seankiv) September 21, 2023
Translation: we’re panicking https://t.co/ek0uqsZVWE
— Josh Mankiewicz (@JoshMankiewicz) September 21, 2023
It’s Week 3 https://t.co/j87R6hFYNP
— JP Acosta (Pug Dederson Stan Acct) (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2023
Don't panic guys. I'm just the Bears General Manager who's giving an ordinary mid-week press conference going into week 3. https://t.co/qpkATKFZ9I
— Steven Jung (@StevenJung) September 21, 2023
