Chicago — Although there are a number of offseason choices to be made, Chicago Bears team president and CEO Kevin Warren provided an update on the team’s situation without disclosing coach Matt Eberflus’ whereabouts.
Since Chicago dropped its opening four games of the season and quarterback Justin Fields seemed to be regressing, Eberflus had been under intense scrutiny. But coming into Sunday’s season finale against rival Green Bay, the Bears have won four of their last five games.
Warren promised to respond to further inquiries about the Bears’ on-field performance the following week.
“As we’ve said all along, we just continually will stay focused on finishing the season strong, take a big-picture, methodical look at everything,” Warren stated. “I’m excited to travel to Green Bay tomorrow. I hope the group can continue to do well.
When Eberflus finally spoke, someone asked him if he planned to come back.
“Expect is a word of expectation,” he stated. That word is more appropriate for the future, don’t you think? We’re going to hold those meetings, I would say. I’m open to having meetings in the days following the game and the first part of the following week, and we’ll schedule them according to the right time. And we’re concentrating on this game right now.”
He talked about the efforts he’s made to persuade the front desk that he’s the right person for the job.
“I feel really good about where this team is,” he stated. “This group is becoming better. With the way the entire football team is playing in the second half of the season, I’m feeling pretty good about it. I really appreciate the bonds and camaraderie we’ve formed, and you can clearly see our growth. Thus, yes, I’m happy about it.
Warren also announced that the Lurie Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will receive a $1 million donation.
The president of the Bears finds sentimental significance in the timing of Warren and his wife Greta’s donation to Lurie Children’s. When Warren was president of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, brain cancer claimed the life of his sister, Carolyn Elaine Warren-Knox. The night before the Vikings game in Green Bay, Warren was staying at the team hotel when he learned of his sister’s death.
Warren-Knox advised her brother, “do what you can to make their lives easier,” before to her passing. By “their lives,” she meant the relatives of young cancer patients.
“It really became an opportunity for us to lean into it,” Warren stated. “Greta and I were moved by her remarks, so we took action and leaned forward. I recently seen how fortunate so many children were. It is therefore wonderful to witness her influence spread to young people worldwide who will carry on her heritage from Arizona to Minnesota to Illinois.”
Warren’s charitable endeavors are motivated by his personal experience being treated at a children’s hospital. When Warren was eleven years old in 1974, he was riding his bicycle in Tempe, Arizona, when he was struck by a car. Warren spent months in the hospital wearing a body cast and traction.
“I have seen firsthand how access to high-quality medical care can improve someone’s life,” he remarked, urging others to keep giving even when they believe they have donated enough. Because, in the end, this is something you cannot take with you.”
Additionally, Warren wished Virginia McCaskey, the owner of the Bears, a happy 101st birthday on Friday.
Warren claims that the franchise she has been a part of for so long is doing well.
“I’m very pleased with the energy of our team, and it’s not only on game day,” Warren stated. “It’s in and around Halas Hall and the practice facilities. only the vitality. Everyone in the dressing room can see it. Guys are working hard on the field and competing, so our team will keep improving.”
The first overall selection in the next draft will go toward that build in part. They traded out of the top spot last season to acquire the pick from Carolina. Later on, literal building can occur. The grounds of the former Arlington Racetrack were acquired by the Bears in anticipation of a possible future stadium. Although a tax battle caused the proposal to halt, Warren stated on Friday that the Bears’ deadline for determining whether to proceed with a new suburban stadium location or stay in Chicago is “right on target.”
“I’m just really energized as a franchise of where we are, with what we have going on with the stadium, what we have going on internally, just building our brand and what we have going on with our football team,” Warren stated.