Black Friday: For the first time in the 100-plus year history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change, firing Matt Eberflus.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2024
Black Friday: For the first time in the 100-plus year history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change, firing Matt Eberflus.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2024
Deidre and Colleen are seated in their golf start, waiting for the group ahead of them to tee off at Talking Stick. Deidre smokes cigar. Colleen sips a gin and tonic. It is 6:30 AM.
Deidre: It’s a dry heat.
Colleen: Then why am I drenched at six o’clock in the morning.
Deidre: I hate that word.
Colleen: What word?
Deidre: Drenched.
Colleen: What word would you prefer I use?
Deidre: I don’t care.
Colleen: Sweaty? Saturated? Moistened?
Deidre: Towels are moistened, not human.
Colleen: I’ve been moistened.
Beat.
Deidre: How do you know?
Colleen: How do I know what?
Deidre: When it’s time to go, when it’s time to stop doing something.
Colleen: What are you talking about?
Deidre: We do things, human being. We do things because we’re supposed to, because that’s what you do. But how do you know when to stop doing a thing?
Colleen: You’re talking about Eberflus.
Deidre: I’m talking about Eberflus.
Colleen: It’s time.
Deidre: Is it?
Colleen: Time.
Deidre: Okay.
Beat.
Training camp is an interesting part of the NFL calendar. It is part fan excitement. Part organizational misinformation. Part media scrambling to find stories where stories do not exist. Part me arguing on social media about the complete lack of value in preseason game reps. But it’s all…interesting? It gives us something to do. And sometimes we learn things.
So, what did we learn about the Chicago Bears during this 2022 camp?
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Item #1. The H.I.T.S. Concept Works
It drew a lot of laughter at the introductory press conference of the coach/GM, but Eberflus’ H.I.T.S. concept has been remarkably visible on both the practice field and preseason pitch. These players run. They flock to the football. They gang tackle. This is not going to be the most talented roster in the NFL, by any means, but it looks to be a roster that will rarely be outworked on game day. And those types of teams are very easy to get behind.
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Item #2. Cole Kmet Might Take “The Leap”
I texted someone inside the building and asked one question. “What player is having a killer summer that no one is talking about?”
Text back, one word. “Kmet.”
Here are my thoughts when it comes to Kmet: