Commanders' Rivera knows the Bears' path
Ron Rivera understands what the Chicago Bears are going through.
In his first three seasons as coach in Washington, the former Bears linebacker and assistant dealt with one off-the-field distraction after another, from the NFL and Congress investigating owner Dan Snyder's dealings to the Drug Enforcement Administration raiding the facility and home of trainer Ryan Vermillion.
Earlier this season, Rivera relished a line of questions about the long snapper situation because if that was the Commanders' biggest problem, it's good to just be worried about football.
“Things have changed, and it's been different,” he said. “It's been refreshing.”
Not so much with the Bears, who are mired in chaos off the field and winless on it.
They visit Washington tonight with a player in exile for undisclosed reasons, their defensive coordinator gone for what he said was health and family reasons, and little reason to believe they're primed for their first victory in nearly a year.
“When you lose, we've lost a couple games here this year, for me, everybody has frustrations,” said Matt Eberflus, who has lost more than a couple of games — 18 of 21 games actually — since taking over as Chicago's coach. “But you got to be able to control your emotions and focus on the task at hand.”
The task at hand is a prime time match-up against the Commanders, who are 2-2 after back-to-back losses but feeling better about themselves after pushing defending NFC East champion Philadelphia to overtime. Moral victories don't amount to a hill of beans in the NFL, but players see the upcoming schedule starting with the Bears and know this is the time to stack wins.
“We've got a lot of games in front of us that are, for sure, winnable,” second-year receiver Jahan Dotson said.
“We should do pretty well during this little stretch.”
Upcoming for Washington are games at Atlanta and the New York Giants, who have been outscored 94-15 in their three losses. But first the 0-4 Bears, who are coming off blowing a 21-point lead to lose to Denver.
And that's just the start of the problems at Halas Hall, where receiver Chase Claypool is no longer welcome to work at. Eberflus declined to say why he and general manager Ryan Poles asked Claypool to stay away from the team.
The drama surrounding Claypool comes after defensive coordinator Alan Williams abruptly resigned earlier this season and franchise quarterback Justin Fields suggested he was being overcoached, comments he tried to walk back later the same day. Fields on the field has rebounded; he's coming off throwing for a career-best 335 yards and four touchdowns against the Broncos, which is one glimmer of hope for the Bears, who last won a game on Oct. 24, 2022.
“You want to win,” Fields said. “I'd rather throw for 50 yards with three picks and we still win the game than what happened this past Sunday. At this point, winning is just the No. 1 thing on my mind.”
BRONCOS RELEASE GREGORY »
The Denver Broncos have decided to part ways with pass rusher Randy Gregory just 18 months after he signed a five-year, $70 million contract that included a $14 million salary this season, $10.9 million of which he is still due.
COLTS WAITING ON TAYLOR » Jonathan Taylor returned to the practice field Wednesday for his first workout in 10 months.
Now he must prove to the Indianapolis Colts coaches he can carry the workload Sunday against Tennessee.
The All-Pro running back and 2021 NFL rushing champion was activated from the physically unable to perform list before a light, scaledback practice, which gave Taylor his first real chance to take snaps with rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.
“It's pretty simple just handing the ball off, knowing where to step,” Richardson said when asked how long it would take the two to get in sync. “It's also learning the running back, learning how he wants the ball given to him, how he wants passes thrown to him. Maybe a couple days, maybe.”
The Colts (2-2) are banking on a quick, seamless transition.
Taylor did not speak to reporters Wednesday before or after practicing for the first time since going on injured reserve Dec. 20. He then missed all of the team's offseason workouts following ankle surgery, spent all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list with lingering pain in the ankle and opened the regular season still on PUP.