Durkin: 'We Have Great Leaders Here,' Allen Says
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) Sitting at 3-4, the Bears' season has reached a tipping point. Mounting frustration in the locker room finally boiled over after Sunday's disappointing loss to the Dolphins, leaving many to wonder where the leadership on the team resides.
But is leadership really the issue with this team? Signs point to carelessness with the football being the real root cause.
Either way, leadership was the theme at Halas Hall on Wednesday.
Chicago coach Marc Trestman has made it clear that leadership won't come from a singular source, which is how he wants it.
"We're not here to build a leadership team," Trestman said. "We're here to build a team of leaders. Everybody can lead in their own way; that can be verbally, non-verbally, through their demeanor, through their actions, how they act during the course of a day."
One of the newer Bears who could be looked at to help correct the course is highly decorated defensive end Jared Allen, who agreed with Trestman's sentiment and shed light on what leadership looks like in an NFL locker room to him.
"I don't want this to sound bad," Allen said. "We talk about leader. What does that look like to people? I think we have great leaders here. Leaders don't necessarily have to stand up at the podium and make some big speech. Matter of fact, if someone gets up every week and has to have, 'Coach is out, let's have a,' that's lame honestly. What's that gonna do? That is rah-rah."
Allen believes that players leading by example is what maters most, which is something he strives to do on a daily basis.
"I've never been huge on needing a team with a person as an out front vocal leader," Allen said. "But I would assume people respect me for the fact that I show up and I work and I have been around this league long enough, and I have had enough success in this league where if I need to talk to someone, I can. And I think I have respect as a teammate. So I think that is what we do well with this team. So I would say we have good leadership. Maybe from the outside looking in, you guys are looking for a vocal person with an S on his chest to do something, but those aren't the guys typically I find people respond to."
The Bears have the league's third-oldest roster, so they have plenty of experienced veterans to lean on as they deal with the adversity. But the team must help itself out on the field first and foremost if they want to become the squad they hope to be.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.
