LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- There's no clear answer to why Chase Claypool didn't work out with the Bears. Perhaps it was the losing, the effort, the attitude, or just the wrong situation for a talented player still trying to find solid footing in the NFL.
Whatever the case may be, those in the Bears' locker room were surprised by how quickly things devolved with the fourth-year wide receiver. Many didn't see any evidence of a rift between Claypool and the coaching staff. If there was one, it wasn't obvious.
"Yeah, I was definitely surprised it didn't work out," cornerback Jaylon Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago. "I felt like he was someone who definitely all of us counted on in the future, for sure. So it was unfortunate for us and him, but at the end of the day, he has to do what's best for him, and the Bears got to do what's best for them as well.
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"There was some things that I feel went on above us as players," Johnson continued. "It's not something where I would say we were super involved or it came from the players. It was just one of those things where we just kind of heard it as everyone else heard it. He's going to be away from the team and it kind of went from there."
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds echoed Johnson's sentiments.
"I have no idea why it didn't work out. I have nothing bad to say about Chase," Edmunds told NBC Sports Chicago. "I wish him the best."
Turning the page on the Claypool saga has been constant across the locker room this week after the Bears traded the wide receiver to the Miami Dolphins last Friday. There's not a lot of clarity on how everything disintegrated so quickly, but the Bears don't have time to dwell on what might have been.
Even wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, who said after Claypool's Week 1 performance that he thought he found the right buttons to push with the receiver, has moved on.
"I'm gonna leave it at this: We wish Chase well," Tolbert said Thursday. "I hope he does well in Miami with his new team and I think he will. I really want to talk about the guys who are here."
Tolbert has coached several big-personality receivers during his 20-year NFL career. He has hinted at Claypool being different to coach than DJ Moore or Darnell Mooney in the past, but he was confident he knew how to get through to the Notre Dame product.
When asked what he learned from Claypool's 11-month stint in Chicago, Tolbert chalked the failure up to it not being the right fit at the right moment.
"That every situation is different," Tolbert said. "You look at the, I go back to the Kurt Warner story. It didn't work out for him for a long time, bagging groceries and all of a sudden now he's in the Hall of Fame. It's just right place, right time and maybe he'll be better off where he is now than he was at his previous two places."
Claypool spoke with reporters in Miami on Wednesday and pointed to the Bears' losing streak as reason his frustration boiled over.
That's something tight end Cole Kmet, a close friend of Claypool's, hinted at prior to the trade.
"I think losing can be hard for guys to deal with," Kmet said after the Bears' Week 4 loss. "It’s been hard for me to manage, but you’ve got to find ways to get back to work, clear your mind, every day. It’s hard– look, I haven’t won a game in almost a year now, and trust me, I take it home with me, and it hurts, man, it hurts. It’s hard to deal with it, but we’ve all gotta be adults about it and be able to move on and be able to trust the process set. That can be hard to do sometimes when things aren’t going your way, and maybe you’re not getting the targets you want, and you’re not winning, all those things kinda add up, and you get frustrated, but you have to be a man about it, be an adult about it and be able to reset your mind each and every week and just look to improve yourself individually, each and every day."
MORE ON CHASE CLAYPOOL
Quarterback Justin Fields has been one of Claypool's most vocal supporters and maintained that he wanted Claypool on the team even after the Bears sent the wide receiver home from Halas Hall.
Fields told reporters that head coach Matt Eberflus told the team there were many "factors" that went into the decision to send Claypool home and that it was not based on the receiver's final media availability in which he criticized the staff for not putting him in the best position to succeed.
The Bears had big dreams for Claypool and built their offense with the idea that he would be a major contributor to the passing game.
Now, they must adjust on the fly.
"It's going to be by committee," Tolbert said when asked how the Bears' offense will fill the Claypool void. "Everybody who has a uniform on is going to play more. You'll see that this week. Everybody who has a uniform on in the receiver room will have plays on offense."
The Bears took a swing on Claypool's tantalizing talent but could never find a way to make the fit work. Sources told NBC Sports Chicago that Claypool was often difficult in meetings, and the staff had trouble getting the receiver to fully buy into his role on the offense.
Whatever the reason, that partnership, one the Bears hoped would be a long-term one, is now over.
"I really don't have any regrets on that," Eberflus said after the Bears traded Claypool. "I just think we took a shot on a guy to bring more skill in here and, again, for whatever reason -- I'm not going to get into the reasons -- it just didn't work out. We wish him the best."
Now, they must quickly move on from the first big whiff of the Ryan Poles era. In the NFL, there's no time to stop and wonder what might have been. A short memory is a players most vital asset. The only thing that matters is what comes next.