Shane Waldron in trouble? Matt Eberflus will ‘look at everything’ to help ailing Bears offense
CHICAGO – Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was asked a day after a rough loss to Arizona if he would take play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
His answer was quick, direct and to the point.
No.
He was asked a similar question right after Sunday’s 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots at Solider Field.
Eberflus’ answer was different this time.
“I said we’ll look at everything. Everything is going to be looked at.”
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It’s on the table, a possibility after the second straight game where the Bears failed to score an offensive touchdown.
Waldron has called just nine games for the Chicago Bears. And yet the man involved in hiring him back in January wouldn’t eliminate the prospect.
The prospect for making a significant change is possible, though Eberflus did not directly say it was under consideration. That doesn’t mean anything will happen with the offensive coordinator. Eberflus could well stick with Waldron moving forward. It might be the right call. It might be the wrong one. Time will tell on all that.
Eberflus didn’t think, however, that change was mandatory to keep the locker room.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so,” Eberflus said in his postgame press conference. “I do believe in those guys. They have faith in us working together. I believe in our football team. I believe in the leaders in the football team. And, you know, we’ll just have to get back to work.”
It must be noted that none of the vocal Bears leaders said moving on from Waldron was desired.
“No. I think Shane is fine,” receiver DJ Moore said. “And our coaches just have to get more detailed and us as players need to get more done to play and do the things that we’re coached (to do).”
While it’s easiest to point at the play caller during times like this, quarterback Caleb Williams said execution outweighs play calling every time.
“When you’re good at not having negative plays, when you’re good at executing, when you’re good at executing situational ball, you’re a tough team to beat regardless of what they’re calling over there and regardless of what our coaches are calling on the field,” Williams said. “When we communicate, when we do our job, when I do my job, when we’re hitting on cylinders, it’s pretty tough to beat.”
Eberflus spent his press conference talking about the need to be solutions oriented. At no point did he get more specific than that when discussing his desire to course correct the offense.
“We’ve got to find that – look at everything,” Eberflus said. “We’ve got to find the continuity there, find the structure that we need, the winning formula we need to score points.”