Can young players help Chicago Bears salvage the season?
Patience may be a virtue, but there's no time for it in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately NFL.
Injuries have forced the Bears into a youth movement, and growing pains are inevitable. But in the NFL, there's always pressure to win now. An 0-3 start has already put Bears coach John Fox in the difficult position of trying to salvage a season while relying on inexperienced players to turn things around.
Sunday's noon clash with the Detroit Lions is the Bears' first against a rival NFC North opponent, an ideal opportunity to begin the salvage operation.
But it won't be easy.
In just his fourth year in the league, Bears guard Kyle Long understands there are no concessions given, even to a team that's using more than a dozen rookies or second-year players as starters or key backups.
"We've got a ton of them," Long said. "Young guys everywhere. But the thing about this league, nobody cares how old you are. Nobody cares if you're dinged up. It's football, and you've got to go out there and play, and you've got to do it at a high level."
The Bears are entering a three-game stretch that can bring them back to relevance, starting with the 1-2 Lions. Next is a trip to Indianapolis to face the 1-2 Colts, who will be returning, hopefully jet-lagged, from a London game vs. the Jaguars. The next week the Bears get the 0-3 Jags at home.
It's still early enough in the season for Fox and his staff to peddle the promise of the future, and he believes that's an easier sell to younger players.
"It's all about hope," Fox said. "I think with young guys, one of the advantages is they're a little more energized. They're out to prove themselves.
"I think they see similar growing signs, albeit the results you're looking for are wins, and we haven't accomplished that yet. But I think they can kind of see the forest through the trees, so they continue to work."
Six-year veteran nose tackle Mitch Unrein doesn't believe it takes much imagination to envision what the youth-heavy team can accomplish.
"We see what we can become," he said. "There are little things that we need to improve on, and if we (do), we're going to be a really tough team. We're going to win a lot of games."
It may be difficult for fans to appreciate, but three straight losses haven't dampened enthusiasm inside Halas Hall, despite the occasional frustrations.
"It's easy to stay positive because we're such a tight-knit team," Unrein said. "We're always motivating each other and just trying to get better each and every day."
Fox has only experienced two 0-3 starts in 14 years as an NFL head coach. His 2009 Carolina Panthers began 0-3 but rebounded to finish 8-8. But the next season 0-3 became 0-5, en route to 2-14 and a pink slip.
"This game's only fun when you win because you put a lot of time and effort into every one of them," Fox said. "Sometimes it might not appear like it, but we do actually do that. And so do (the players). Obviously there gets to be some frustration, but then you get a chance to see it on tape, live through it and learn from it and move on."
Fox knows players feel the frustration of a slow start as much as the coaches, and Long, the three-time Pro Bowl guard, admits it creeps in.
"Frustration is natural, especially when you're 0-3," Long said. "Nobody likes to lose. You play the game to win. So you've got to go out and you have to hit the reset button every week and try to get a win. It's a one-game season every week."
That's more true this week than ever. Since 1990, only one 0-4 team has made the playoffs, the 1992 San Diego Chargers.
"Obviously it would help to get a win here pretty soon," Fox said, "and that's the plan."
The sooner the better.
Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains saw some positive indicators last week as backup quarterback Brian Hoyer led an attack that piled up 276 yards in the second half, even though it wasn't enough.
"There are signs that we're getting better," Loggains said. "We just need to coach it better. We need to execute it better. And we need it to happen faster."
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