Rozner: Bears' season falling apart fast

OK, well, that didn't take long.

The Chicago Bears' season is coming apart at the seams and the best player on the team, Kyle Long, has apparently had it with losing after three years of misery and a fourth season already in tatters.

The most affable and media-savvy Bears player, Long declined to speak to reporters following Monday night's debacle, and the Bears kept the locker room closed about an extra 12 minutes postgame.

Most players were still at their lockers and in full gear when the media descended.

"We can't let it unravel," said tight end Zach Miller. "We can't point any fingers. We have to stay together and not panic with 14 games left."

But the Bears are 0-2 after a 29-14 loss to Philadelphia and facing an uncertain future with QB Jay Cutler having injured the thumb he broke a few years ago, and facing more tests Tuesday.

So what was the message from head coach John Fox to the players?

"Mind our Ps and Qs," said defensive end Akiem Hicks, "and make sure we're all sailing in the right direction."

Asked if that was occurring, Hicks said, "We're headed that way."

It certainly doesn't feel that way, though Fox insisted there were no major locker room issues.

"We're a family, so we do have arguments and we do have frustrations," Fox said. "But our guys have discussions all the time."

Cutler dismissed the confrontation with injured linebacker Pernell McPhee - who was seen in street clothes yelling at Cutler on the sideline - as a passionate teammate who was frustrated.

McPhee was hardly alone in seeing Cutler run into a sack-fumble, and throw a critical interception with a bad hand.

And while the 11-year veteran quarterback has two wins in his last nine NFL games, Philadelphia rookie Carson Wentz has two wins in his first two starts, only the fifth QB since the merger to start his team's first two games and win them both.

That has to leave fans wondering if the Bears will finally be bad enough to get a high draft pick and find a young quarterback, while the Eagles feel awfully good now about trading up to get Wentz.

Wentz defeated a wretched Cleveland team in Week 1, but the Bears are supposed to possess a much better defense, rebuilt in the off-season and directed by supposed legends in Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

It was Wentz who looked polished, poised and purposeful for the Eagles, though late Monday night, Boomer Esiason on the national radio broadcast of the game asked, "Is Philadelphia this good, or have the Eagles played the two worst teams in the NFL in back-to-back weeks?"

Good question, though being tossed into the same sentence as the Browns has to be a shocking reality check for Fox and GM Ryan Pace, who are already hearing it from the faithful that booed the team off the field at the end of the third and fourth quarters.

"I think our defense matched up pretty well," Fox said, "but you wouldn't know it by the score."

No, and after only one year and two games of a rebuild - of a team that hit rock bottom under Phil Emery and Marc Trestman - Bears fans are nonetheless demanding progress, and through 18 games Pace and Fox have produced six victories.

It's the first time since the final Dave Wannstedt years that the Bears have started 0-2 in back-to-back seasons.

Fox was advertised as the turnaround specialist, the miracle worker who could find magic in his second year, but that's not looking like reality in 2016, and the first two picks for Pace and Fox - Kevin White and Leonard Floyd - are doing absolutely nothing to allay fears.

So while Cutler is hurt and Wentz looks like the real deal - a young Ben Roethlisberger, only quicker - the Bears haven't won at home in nearly a year and have lost 11 of 12 in Chicago dating back to 2014.

The locals have a right to be concerned.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him on @BarryRozner on Twitter.