The Bernstein Brief: Will Bears' John Fox Lash Out At Critics Again?
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Last week, Bears coach John Fox decided to take a swipe at anybody who dared to see that his quarterback missed a wide-open receiver on a critical play. Instead of just acknowledging the error, he chose to insult those whose job it is to notice such things.
"I don't know that you can be super-critical," Fox said. "When you're out there playing quarterback it looks a little different than when you're up in the press box having hot dogs."
Fox's buns were apparently steamed enough for him to go back for a second helping of the tired trope making fun of reporters, adding, "It would have been an option, that had we had the coolness of the hot-dog laden press box we might have gone there."
Maybe Fox was just hungry, but it made little sense to get peevish at all of those observers at the game and at home who saw where the ball was supposed to go. And the question is, now what?
On Sunday, Brian Hoyer again racked up yards of empty calories as the Bears blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead in falling to the lowly Jaguars, 17-16, at Soldier Field. Is it only the ready availability of encased meats that allows one to notice the useless check-down passes, third-down throws well short of the line to gain and a maddening inability to finish drives with touchdowns? It's clear that too many of Hoyer's downfield throws lack mustard.
Let's be frank -- Fox's 1-5 team is in last place and won't catch up.
That's not being "super-critical," and it's nothing to relish.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
