Bears head coach Matt Eberflus says wide receiver Chase Claypool won’t be playing for the squad this week.
The absence of Chicago Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool from the squad will persist into Week 5.
Claypool will not be with the club this week as they get ready to play Washington on Thursday night, according to Matt Eberflus’ announcement on Monday. The head coach of the Bears also provided some explanation for his choice to keep Claypool off the field for this past Sunday’s contest.
“We did advise Chase Claypool not to come for the entire weekend, including the game, in order to fix the record. We informed him he wouldn’t be available on Saturday,” Eberflus said to the media. We told him this morning that he wouldn’t be attending the game this week as well. And at this point, we just think it’s best for the team. Once more, Ryan Poles, the general manager, and I have told him about it, and that’s the situation. Thus, we believe that at this time, it is best for the team.
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Claypool’s absence followed remarks he made to the media last week in which he questioned if the Bears coaching staff was placing him in the best possible position to succeed. In three games this season, the Bears wide receiver has produced four receptions (on 14 targets) for 51 yards and a score.
“It’s crucial to assess the full body of work when evaluating players at practices, meetings, walkthroughs, and other events, correct?” stated Eberflus. “And we simply believe that it is best for our football team that Chase be out of the building right now.”
After blowing a 21-point lead against the Broncos on Sunday, the Claypool situation was temporarily put on hold until Monday morning. Regarding Claypool’s availability beyond Week 5, Eberflus sidestepped any queries by stating that Poles “makes all the trades and moves and we’ll decide that as we go forward.” In a midseason trade last year, the Poles received Claypool from the Steelers in return for a 2023 second-round choice (No. 32 overall).
To make matters worse for the winless Bears in 2023, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport said on Monday that Claypool’s future with the Chicago Bears is currently very much in doubt.
Cole Kmet believes the Bears team’s performance, which hasn’t won a game since October 24, 2022, is what’s driving the problem.
“I return to the defeat. According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, the Bears tight end stated on Monday, “I believe losing may be hard for guys to live with.” “It’s been difficult for me to handle, but you need to find daily opportunities to return to work and decompress. It’s difficult; believe me, I carry that pain home with me. I haven’t won a game in almost a year. It aches. Although dealing with it is difficult, we must all accept responsibility for it, be able to move on, and have faith in the established process.
“When things aren’t going your way, you might not be hitting your goals, and you’re losing, all of those things can add up and make you feel frustrated. But you have to be a man about it, an adult about it, and be able to reset your mind every week and just look to improve yourself personally, every day. That can be hard to do at times.
