'The initial goal is to unify this football team' – Thomas Brown sends direct message in opening press conference as Bears' interim head coach
The future of the Chicago Bears is underway this week and it starts over the next five weeks with interim head coach Thomas Brown taking over the reigns after the team decided to part ways with Matt Eberflus.On Monday, team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles addressed the media for the first time […]
The future of the Chicago Bears is underway this week and it starts over the next five weeks with interim head coach Thomas Brown taking over the reigns after the team decided to part ways with Matt Eberflus.
On Monday, team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles addressed the media for the first time since Friday's decision and soon after, opened the floor for Brown to take the stage and layout the expectations for the remainder of the 2024 regular season.
"Thomas is incredibly bright. He's hardworking," Poles said about the team's interim coach. "He has great leadership capabilities. He's decisive and he's clear. I'm excited to watch him lead our football team."
Since making this decision, a lot has come out over the past 72 hours regarding the feelings among the players in the locker room and potential divides on the team. Brown was quick to address any of those concerns during his first press conference as interim head coach.
"The initial goal is to unify this football team," Brown said on Monday. "Move in the same accord, move in the same direction, speaking the same language, and attacking together. No more divisions. As far as the outside noise, we ignore it. What matters is our deadly approach, us working together, and execute when it time to go execute."
In terms of what the team identity is going to look like going forward, Brown had a strong direct message for his players.
"We need to do a better job of being a more disciplined football team, on and off the football field," Brown added. "As far as our identity for our football team, football is a violent game and it rewards those who play violent. Physical at every position is going to be our mentality."
Brown added that he expects his team moving forward to play with coachability, dependability, and accountability during the remainder of the season.
As for the rest of the coaching staff changes, Brown will move from the booth to the sidelines and still call offensive plays as the acting head coach. Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty will be elevated to interim offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator Eric Washington will take over defensive play-calling duties.
In regards to the recent losses the Bears had over the last few weeks, Brown was also quick to address his share of the responsibility and accountability.
"I am not exempt from responsibility in any of those actions," Brown added. "We're a team and I believe in doing things together. We get rewarded together and we also get criticized together. On gameday, go execute. Don't panic, do a great job communicating, be poised in the moment, and make a decision and roll with it. That's the thought process."
It's easy to see why the players have been rallying around Brown over the past three weeks and everyone will be eager to see how the team looks moving forward under Brown's leadership.
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The first player has finally spoken out.
