The Bears have told Chase Claypool to be away from the team since last week. It appears they won’t be asking him to come back.
Ryan Poles appeared to make it clear Claypool’s limited time in Chicago will be coming to an end, saying that he wishes the wide receiver luck over the rest of his career, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. And after the Bears had reportedly looked to trade him earlier, it appears he could be released rather than dealt, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“I always look at things from a player’s perspective. You have a player going into his free agent year, who wants to be productive and help us, and when things aren’t going the right way, sometimes you get emotional, things don’t work out and you struggle to blend in and keep resilient and stay resilient with the rest of the crew,” Poles said. “I think Chase is going to learn from this situation, we all will, and I wish him luck moving forward throughout his career.”
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The Bears paid a hefty price to acquire Claypool just last year, hoping to give Justin Fields a standout weapon in the receiving game. Chicago sent its second-round pick to the Steelers for Claypool, a pick that wound up becoming the No. 32 overall pick.
The Claypool situation has devolved quite quickly in 2023. It had been noted he appeared to show a lack of effort in the Week 1 game against the Packers, and reportedly apologized for his performance in the game. Then, on Sept. 29, he publicly criticized his usage in the Bears’ offense.
Following the comments — and reportedly some poor efforts at practice — he was told by the organization to stay home for the team’s Week 4 contest against the Broncos. The team then made it clear he would not be returning to practice ahead of their Week 5 “Thursday Night Football” clash with the Commanders.
“When you’re evaluating players in meetings, in practice, in walkthroughs, all those things, it’s important that you evaluate the entire body of work, right?” Coach Matt Eberflus told reporters Monday. “And we just feel that right now Chase is gonna be out of the building is best for our football team.”
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On Tuesday, Fields said he spoke with Claypool, who regretted his comments and would have taken them back if he could.
“I think he knows that he kind of messed up by saying that, but I wish him nothing but the best,” Fields said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Patrick Finley. “He’s a talented player, and he’s a great person, has a good heart and works really hard. Definitely going to be staying in touch with him regardless of what happens.”
If Claypool’s time with the Bears is officially over, he will end his time in Chicago with 18 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown in 10 games. Before he was traded by Pittsburgh in 2022, he caught 32 passes for 311 yards and a touchdown in eight games.
“You’re always disappointed in the situation and it’s definitely something I take ownership of,” Poles said, per NBC Sports Chicago. “Last year in the situation we were in, we wanted to add another receiver to the offense, not only to help us be more productive but also to help Justin take the next step.
“The right thought process was there and I feel comfortable with that. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out and we were hoping for him to be a little bit more productive and be someone that could help us take it to the next level.”