Bears players react to deflating loss vs. Packers in Week 1
The Chicago Bears were blown out by the Green Bay Packers, 38-20, on Sunday. It was about as bad of a season opener as you could’ve imagined, as the Bears were outcoached, outplayed and outclassed from start to finish.
It was a demoralizing loss, capped by a nightmarish second half where the Packers outscored Chicago 28-14. It felt like a sequel to the blockbuster bomb that was the 2022 season. But will it be more of the same for the final 16 games? We’ll have to wait and see.
But for now, here’s how players like Justin Fields, DJ Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, DeMarcus Walker, Eddie Jackson, Justin Jones and Cole Kmet reacted after Sunday’s loss to Green Bay:
QB Justin Fields
“We had a rhythm starting off early,” Fields said. “But I think the moral of the story is we shot ourselves in the foot so many times: pre-snap penalties, false starts, holdings. We put ourselves in third-and-long. It’s hard to convert on that for an NFL offense. I think if we just clean that up and keep getting better, we’ll be fine.”
WR DJ Moore
“Coming out of training camp, it got all the hype,” Moore said, via The Athletic. “But at the end of the day, it’s the regular season. The wins count. We’re in the loss column right now. We just got to figure out a way to dig ourselves out.”
He added: “Nobody wants to lose a home opener, especially against an in-conference opponent. This game was hyped up. We didn’t bring the juice and hype to the party today. We lost.”
LB Tremaine Edmunds
“You can’t let one game define you,” Edmunds said, via The Athletic. “And this game’s definitely not going to define us. It’s about getting back to work. It’s about putting our head down. It’s about taking these L’s and learning from it. It’s not losses; it’s lessons. And we can take lessons out of this and we can learn from it and get better. That’s what the message is.”
LB T.J. Edwards
“One, just losing the game in general, it’s never fun,” Edwards said, via The Athletic. “It’s a bad feeling and if it’s not a bad feeling, you’re in the wrong business. It’s going to sting for a second. Obviously, it being Green Bay and all that stuff, but it’s us. We want to go 1-0 every week and we didn’t. That’s the disappointment for us for sure.”
DE DeMarcus Walker
“I mean, one game doesn’t make us,” Walker said, via The Athletic. “I really love our chances. We just got to get better. You know what I’m saying?”
S Eddie Jackson
“We can’t put any type of excuses,” Jackson said, via the Sun-Times. “We take the field; we’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to execute our job. It’s as simple as that.”
He added: “We’re good players. These guys on this roster, I feel like we can be dominant. We just have to continue to get better. Come out fast, start fast, finish strong. That’s our motto. We’re not going to make excuses. Nobody’s pointing fingers, unless it’s at yourself. On Monday, we come in and watch film and get ready for Tampa Bay.’’
DT Justin Jones
“Hats off to Green Bay; we’ll see them again,” Jones said, via the Sun-Times. “Right now our focus is on Tampa Bay. I’m not really worried about it. It’s just one game. We’re got to bounce back. We’ve got a really good team here. I truly believe that.”
TE Cole Kmet
‘‘I haven’t won one of these yet,’’ Kmet said, via the Sun-Times. ‘‘Now you’ve gotta wait until Week 18 to get back at ’em.’’
He added: ‘‘The guys that we’ve got, the new crew of guys and the resiliency of the group. I mean, we’ve gotta be able to show it to you guys and back it up, but we just have faith in one another.’’
