Trestman: No coaching changes for Bears staff
After 3 straight losses by a combined 133-51, and with just 1 victory in the past six games, embattled Bears coach Marc Trestman was asked some obvious questions Monday afternoon, starting with:
Will there by any changes to his coaching staff?
He did not provide the answer that many fans were hoping for.
“There will not be any at this time,” Trestman said.
What about benching quarterback Jay Cutler who has committed 15 of the Bears' 18 turnovers, all but 1 of them coming in the team's 6 losses?
“Jay has got to play better,” Trestman said. “It's very clear he did not play well enough. We can't sugarcoat that. I'm certain that he'd take accountability for that. At the same time, we didn't play collectively well enough as a team.”
Trestman said he is not concerned that Cutler has lost the support of his teammates, despite his 68.8 passer rating in the 55-14 loss to the Packers Sunday night at Lambeau Field that was his lowest of the season.
But the Bears' coach did not rule out other personnel changes.
“We're certainly going to talk personnel,” he said. “We certainly have to. We're going to look at everything as a starting point moving into Wednesday.”
Players who have paid lip service to “accountability,” in recent weeks but have failed to walk the walk could be more closely scrutinized.
“We've got to look at those players and see if we can put people in position to compete with them for their jobs,” Trestman said. “That's what gets a player to move forward.”
Sunday night's disaster mostly featured players going the wrong way, particularly on a defense that has suffered the humiliating distinction of establishing franchise records for most first-half points allowed in back-to-back games.
The defense was torched for 38 points in the first 30 minutes against the New England Patriots. Given two weeks to make corrections thanks to the bye week, Mel Tucker's group surrendered 42 in the first half against the Packers.
In the past two games, the Bears have been outscored 80-7 in the first half. In the past three games, the collective first-half deficit is 94-7. Starting in a hole is one thing, but this is more like the Grand Canyon.
All of which leads to questions about Tucker and his continued employment. To that, Trestman offered a vote of confidence.
“I watch him work every day,” Trestman said. “I watch him communicate with these players. I watch him work on the field with these players. He's doing everything he can under the circumstances to coach, to teach and to lead that side of the ball, and he's got a very good staff with him.
“They're great teachers, they're veteran coaches who have been in a lot of situations, as Mel has. I feel very confident that he's doing the things that he can do to help us go forward.”
The 3-6 Bears currently reside in the basement of the NFC North, four games behind the 7-2 Lions and three behind the 6-3 Packers. They have no realistic shot at the playoffs, and without an immediate turnaround, they might soon be waving bye-bye to respectability and some, if not all, of the coaching staff.
Trestman accepted his share of the blame Sunday night and again a day later.
“I haven't done well enough because our team is not moving in the right direction,” he said. “The most disappointed I've been is coming off the bye to play the way we did (Sunday).”
Trestman believes the first step in a turnaround begins with a focus on next Sunday's game against the Vikings and a reinforcement of what was successful during victories over the 49ers, Jets and Falcons.
Trestman said there are ways in which he can help lead the turnaround.
“The most important thing I can do is lead the way with the demeanor that shows the confidence that we can get this done, and I think we can,” he said. “I've been down this road before. This has been a very, very disturbing couple of weeks.
“But I've seen teams and coaches work their way out of this, and it's not the first time for some of us. We have to show our players that the way to get this done is to move forward and try to utilize every ounce of experience and mental toughness we have to get it done.”
With five of the final seven games at home, including the next two, Bears fans will see how much mental toughness this team possesses.
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