Bears center Sam Mustipher has heard the ire directed at coach Matt Nagy, whose offense gained 1.1 yards per play in Sunday’s 26-6 loss to the Browns with first-round pick Justin Fields starting at quarterback.
“For our head coach to take the heat, I believe that falls back on us as players,” Mustipher said Tuesday. “The plays that are called, the schemes that are run, we have to execute, and we didn’t do that. It’s easy to sit here and play the blame game, point fingers and say we didn’t get it done. And he’s the representative of our team, of our franchise. So it falls on him [and] it falls on all of us.
“We’ve all got to execute. We’ve all got to do a better job, and that starts from the top down.”
Wide receiver Allen Robinson likened Halas Hall to being in the eye of the storm — it’s calm there.
“You can’t put your energy towards freaking out,” he said. “I try to put all the energy back into the things that I can control and into myself.”
Mustipher said all Bears players knows the pulse of the fan base after wins and losses.
“Any player who says they don’t hear anything, they’re lying,” he said.
Tooth . . . and a chip
After the offensive line allowed nine sacks by the Browns, Mustipher likened Tuesday’s film session to going to the dentist: unpleasant but necessary.
“We had a lot of cavities on Sunday,” he said. “That’s something you’ve got to improve on, got to fix. Got to floss everyday. So it’s back to the details, back to the execution.”
The line was largely left on its own, getting help in pass protection only nine of 30 times. Mustipher said chip blocks from running backs and tight ends can be helpful, but “we’ve got to do it” blocking 5-on-5.
“You train to block the best of the best, 1-on-1, in a critical situation,” he said.
NU alum Ramsey tries out
Peyton Ramsey, who starred for Northwestern last season, was one of three quarterbacks to try out for the Bears on Tuesday, alongside Central Connecticut State’s Jacob Dolegala and Virginia Tech’s Ryan Willis.
Three receivers also tried out: Wayne State’s Darece Roberson, Eastern Michigan’s Mathew Sexton and Mississippi State’s Isaiah Zuber.
Contributing: Jason Lieser