Former and current Bears coaches weighed in on the Brian Urlacher-Gale Sayers controversy Friday.
“I don’t think Gale was being that critical, honestly,” Mike Ditka said on “Mike & Mike In The Morning ” on ESPN Radio. “I think somebody asked him a question. They asked him about the state of the Chicago Bears. He answered very honestly what he thought about Cutler. He answered very honestly what he thought about the coach. Brian’s coming off an injury. Brian’s a great football player, he has to stay healthy, there’s no question about that. Nobody can play when they’re hurt.
“So I don’t know where it was so inflammatory. I didn’t see that. And I understand, your feathers get ruffled here and there. When somebody sees something they think is wrong, I don’t think it’s wrong to say it. Sometimes criticism put in the right direction can help you.”
Urlacher also questioned Sayers’ credentials, which rankled Ditka.
“The way you win a championship, that’s done by a team,” Ditka said. “Super Bowls are won by great teams, not necessarily by great individual players.There are too many great football players who are in the Hall of Fame who have never been fortunate enough to win a Super Bowl. When you win a Super Bowl, it’s a collective team effort.”
Lovie Smith addressed the subject after the first minicamp practice on Friday.
“Those are guys in the Bear family. When you’re in the family, ideally you would like to keep things in. No one in the Bear family is happy with where we are right now.
“Our football team is better, and when we play better this year, everybody will be happy.”
