After he was a healthy scratch in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears receiver Chase Claypool won’t be with the team this week as it prepares for its “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Washington Commanders, coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Eberflus told Claypool not to come to the facility this week. “We thought it was best for the team,” he said.
- The team told Claypool not to attend Sunday’s game, which Chicago lost 31-28.
- Claypool, who Chicago acquired for a second-round pick at last season’s trade deadline, has 18 receptions in 10 games with the Bears.
How we got here
Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles both called Claypool on Saturday to inform him that he wouldn’t be active against the Broncos. Eberflus would not say how Claypool reacted to that news.
“We’ll keep it there,” Eberflus said Monday. “It’s between me and him.”
Eberflus said that he and Poles also called Claypool early Monday to tell him that he would stay home during the week while the Bears prepared for the Washington Commanders at Halas Hall. Claypool will not play in the game.
“I would just say we thought it was best for the team,” Eberflus said.
He repeated that message several times during his news conference.
“I would say that what we think is best for the team. And how we operate here as a football team. The Chicago Bears. When I came here Day 1, I talked about being on time, being respectful and working hard. That to me is important for every individual — if it’s a staff member, a player or a coach. That’s where we are. We feel right now this is the best decision for us.”
On Friday, Claypool said that he did not think the Bears had put him in the best position to utilize his skill set.
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“I wouldn’t say it’s not an ideal place for me,” Claypool said. “Obviously, there’s other places. You can say, ‘Oh, I want to be on the best offense with the highest passing yards.’ But that doesn’t happen in football. You just have to make due with what you got.”
There’s more to Claypool’s benching and inevitable departure than what he said about his coaches last week. Eberflus said he had no reaction to what Claypool said. Instead, Eberflus was more passionate about what happened — or didn’t happen — in meetings, walk-throughs and practices with Claypool.
“We have a standard for that; we have standards for that,” Eberflus said. “And if those standards are met then everything’s good. If it’s not, then it’s not.”
Claypool was widely criticized earlier this season after clips from Chicago’s Week 1 game appeared to show Claypool he appeared to be barely trying to block or run routes against the Green Bay Packers. Claypool later apologized to his teammates.
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Required reading
(Photo: Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images)