The Bears displayed a total lack of execution, energy, and --- in some cases --- effort during Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers at home.
One player's effort, in particular, struck a chord with NFL analyst and well-documented Bears fan, Kyle Brandt. Brandt brought his brash thoughts to Twitter during the game.
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He elaborated further on "the player" during his show, "Good Morning Football."
“There is a player for the Chicago Bears who I’m not going to mention, I don’t know what he’s doing out there, he certainly doesn’t look like he wants to be out there," Brandt said.
“He’s a name. He’s a guy you know. I’m not gonna mention his name because I don’t have to. If you watched five seconds of this game you know who I’m talking about. I don’t know what this player’s doing but I know he’s not trying, and I don’t know if he’s gonna be out there much longer.”
Brandt was undoubtedly talking about Chase Claypool.
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The Bears wide receiver displayed a lackluster effort on numerous plays during Sunday's game. He ended with zero catches from two targets. But, worst of all, he refused to block for screens and get physical with any Packers defender.
A separate "X" profile took note of these instances and posted Claypool's snaps from the game. The tape is appalling. There are several instances where Claypool clearly isn't putting it all on the field.
In my opinion, the most jarring instance was a lazy block he lost during a set screen-play for Darnell Mooney. The Packers' corner charged through Claypool and slammed Mooney to the ground. Claypool walked it off, shrugged, then failed to help Mooney off the ground, even though his effort put him there.
Embarrassing.
Remember, this is a make-or-break year for Claypool. This season marks the final year of his rookie contract.
The Bears traded a coveted No. 32 pick in the 2023 NFL draft in exchange for Claypool. And despite high expectations for his size and past stat sheets, he underperformed. He caught 10 passes for 140 yards in the final 10 games of the season.
The wide receiver struggled on account of his lack of knowledge of the offense. The low amount of time he spent developing chemistry with Fields didn't help either.
Claypool assured enhancement this offseason, advocating his comfortability in the offense and his growing on-field relationship with Fields had improved. Though, after Sunday's game, it doesn't look like a paradigm shift. He looks worse, honestly.
It's only Week 1, but a lack of effort over execution is telling.