Holmes: Skepticism Permeates Air Around Bears Brass After Kevin White Fiasco
By Laurence W. Holmes--
(CBS) So now we know that Bears receiver Kevin White has a stress fracture, not shin splints as they'd indicated all along. We know that he will need surgery, have a steel rod inserted in his leg and could miss all of his rookie season. It was just last week that Bears coaches were throwing out Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s name as a comp for White's situation. Now the organization finds itself on the market looking for another starter quality receiver. Good luck.
Over the summer, I spent some time in Denver, mostly on vacation but also talking to colleagues out there who covered John Fox. I was warned about his cloak-and-dagger ways: stories of him watching or listening to that week's opposing coach's show, to pick up tips or possibly formations.
Football coaches are notorious for this, but in Fox's case it surprised me. Back when training camp started, he said this about his approach to the upcoming season.
"I've always been a firm believer that this league is about blocking and tackling," Fox said. "You're not going to be very good on offense if you can't block. You're not going to be very good on defense if you can't tackle. And that's all padded type of skill sets. So like everything, how we develop those skills is going to determine how we play on Sundays."
Does Fox have a reputation for being a "scheme guy?" Not really. I didn't know he was reinventing the wheel in Charlotte and Denver. Maybe Fox should read Cubs manager Joe Maddon's T-shirt and strive to "Do simple better."
It's always been frustrating to listen to football coaches act as if they're guarding government secrets. It smacks of the Harvey Danger song "Flagpole Sitta."
"Paranoia, paranoia, everybody's coming to get me …"
On Saturday, Fox made his thoughts on reporting injuries clear.
"I just know by league, we're required to give you a body part unless it's a quarterback or a kicker and we don't have to say which side and so I've been doing this for 14 years now," Fox said. "That's the way we do it."
Meanwhile, it hangs White out to dry by painting him as either soft or not in shape. It's something that was so frustrating for White that he recently sought the counsel of Michael Irvin to "talk him off the ledge."
As recently as Friday, White was telling people he was ready to play. Basically, he was screaming another lyric from the "Flagpole Sitta."
"I'm not sick, but I'm not well…"
I understand that on game week. You don't want players to be targets. You don't want to tip your hand, but at this point there's no advantage to acting like nothing is wrong, other than having the league think a top-10 pick is damaged goods.
At the beginning of camp, general manager Ryan Pace could've made the announcement that White had a stress fracture and they were hoping to avoid surgery. It would've been case closed until the update that we got on Saturday, but that's not how the Bears played it. With each interview, Fox was less and less believable because he was more and more ambiguous. Plus, there was the proof of White not doing anything during practice.
I blame myself for not being more direct when Jason Goff and I interviewed Fox more than a week ago at camp. I had the chance to ask the question: Is it shin splints or not?
I didn't. I can promise you, my interactions with Fox and Pace will be more direct going forward. My skeptical switch has been flipped, and the setting is on high. So when I hear that Alshon Jeffery got hurt in a walk-through, Pace and Fox will get the side-eye from me.
After the stuff they pulled with White, no one is falling for the banana in the tailpipe again.
Laurence Holmes hosts the Laurence Holmes Show on 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @LaurenceWHolmes.
