Frustrated Bears Try To Keep Calm While Preparing For Patriots

By Gregory Hunt

When the Chicago Bears come to Foxboro to visit the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium Sunday, they may arrive feeling a little stressed. After a 27-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field last week in which the Bears committed three turnovers, Chicago wide receiver Brandon Marshall could be heard through the doors of the closed locker room yelling at teammates. Initial media reports said an inside source identified quarterback Jay Cutler as one of the players targeted by Marshall’s rant, but Bears head coach Marc Trestman denied this in a press conference Monday.

“I don’t think that was the case at all yesterday,” said Trestman. “I heard a lot about most of it, but what I did hear I did not hear any of that.”

Marshall and Cutler are known to be close friends — so close, that the two of them are comfortable being forthright with each other. This made the claim seem credible, but Trestman downplayed the situation.

“What I understood happened after the game was players expressing themselves in different ways, at their disappointment in the loss,” said Trestman. “I’ll leave it at that. That’s really ultimately what happened, and I don’t think it’s anything more than that.”

Regardless of what happened in the locker room, the Bears have plenty of reasons to be frustrated. They currently hold a 3-4 record, putting them in third place in the NFC North behind the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers who have matching 5-2 records. Also, the team is inexplicably winless at home, going 0-3 at Soldier Field. When the team came off the field at halftime trailing 14-0 against the Dolphins, Chicago players were soundly booed by their own fans. Following the game Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long was highly critical of the fans, but he took back that criticism during a radio interview on Monday.

“If we were giving them something to cheer about there would be a lot more cheers coming off the field at halftime,” Long said. “That falls on our shoulders. It’s unfair to put it on the fans. There was a lot of frustration after the game. You work hard all week, and to be down 14-0 going into the half, it’s tough.”

Despite the problems at home, the Bears have played well on the road, going 3-1. Their most significant road victory was a 28-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the inaugural regular season game at Levi’s Stadium. The Chicago defense intercepted 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick three times in that game while Cutler passed for four touchdowns.

Patriots schedule about to get tough

After next Sunday’s game against the Bears, it may be a long time before the Patriots play a sub-.500 team again. The following five opponents on New England’s schedule have a combined record of 25-9, and the Patriots will play three of those games on the road. The team gets a bye week after hosting the Denver Broncos (5-1) at Gillette Stadium November 2, but the four-week stretch that follows includes games against the Indianapolis Colts (5-2), Detroit Lions (5-2), Green Bay Packers (5-2) and San Diego Chargers (5-2). Of these four games, only the November 23 game against the Lions will be at Gillette Stadium.

For more Patriots news and updates, visit Patriots Central.

Gregory Hunt is a Boston native and a life-long fan of the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics. He’s also particularly fond of lacrosse, IndyCar racing and women’s college basketball. He currently works for Examiner.com where he serves as the Senior Manager of Content and Media Access. He also writes for Examiner.com as the New England Patriots Examiner. His work can be found on Examiner.com.