The media pile-on for the Chicago Bears’ ugly 0–2 start continued Thursday with some harsh words from Stephen A. Smith. Appearing on ESPN’s First Take, Smith bashed the entire Bears organization for their ineptitude after their loss to the Bucs and the controversy surrounding Justin Fields’ slow start, calling the franchise “trash.”
An already-bad week for the Bears got worse when Fields seemed to criticize the team’s coaching staff for slowing down his decision-making. Fields later walked back the comments and took ownership for the team’s offensive struggles, but it was yet another mess for a team that hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2023.
“Why don’t we just call them the Bad News Bears?” Smith said. “It’s a damn shame that they represent the city of Chicago. They stink.”
"The Chicago Bears are trash. Let's just call it what it is."
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 21, 2023
-@stephenasmith on the Bears organization pic.twitter.com/GH6fjr411q
Smith did back Fields for his comments, pointing specifically to the lack of designed run plays for Fields so far this season despite Fields’s success running the ball in 2022.
“[Fields] has only had five designed runs for a grand total of one yard thus far in the first two games. He averaged five designed runs for 28 yards per game last season,” Smith said. “Why are you not running him more? Why are you not getting him out of the pocket? Why are you not using his athleticism? Because clearly, you’re trying to make him into something that he’s not.”
It seems unlikely things will get better for Chicago this week when they hit the road to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs Sunday.
