Getty Bears LB Alec Ogletree doesn't mind being held accountable by his teammates.
The Chicago Bears were thoroughly outplayed in their Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and the team had enough concerning mistakes on both sides of the ball to focus on in the coming weeks.
Arguably the most glaring error of the night came from two experienced Bears defenders: safeties Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gipson let a diving Van Jefferson — who fell right between them — get up from the turf after a 50+ catch and run untouched into the end zone. Simply reaching out and touching Jefferson would have been enough to prevent the score, but neither Bears defender did that, and this was the result:
Welcome to the #Rams offense: Matthew Stafford with a 67-yard BOMB to Van Jefferson for the TD.
Fireworks!
Jackson, specifically, also had a few other egregious mistakes and missed tackles in the game that wound up being quite costly for the Bears:
“Everybody can tackle.” – Eddie Jackson, 2021
Eddie Jackson does not want to get physical at all
Despite not giving his best performance on the field against the Rams, Jackson still held his teammates accountable for their errors, even checking linebacker Alec Ogletree after a costly penalty.
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Jackson Scolded Ogletree for ‘Stupid’ Penalty
Ogletree, who was starting in place of veteran Danny Trevathan, was flagged for taunting Rams guard Austin Corbett during what would be L. A.’s final drive of the night. Ogletree either stood over Corbett too long or had a bit too much to say (or both) and a flag was thrown, extending the Rams’ drive.
The veteran LB admitted after the game that it wasn’t the best decision on his part.
“Be smarter,” Ogletree said on September 18. “You can always be better than the week before. Even if you did something good, the great ones, they even critique themselves on the good plays that they make.”
When he was asked about his interaction with Jackson after the penalty, Ogletree revealed what the All-Pro safety said to him during the exchange:
“(He said) That was stupid of me to get that penalty. I mean, that’s just what it was. I shouldn’t have got that penalty even though I let my emotions get the best of me in that situation, and for him to try to (pull me aside) and tell me that was wrong — I don’t have a problem with that. You need that. We all have to hold each other accountable … that’s not who we are, that’s not what we’re about. I was wrong in that situation.”
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Jackson Also Needs to Be Held Accountable for Those Missed Tackles
When Ogletree was asked how players on the defensive side of the ball like Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Jackson were holding each other accountable, Ogletree said this:
“Those guys are being who they are. They haven’t changed since I been here and I don’t expect them to change. I expect them to stay the same person they’ve been, and push everybody to be better.”
That didn’t really answer the question — and while it’s great the Bears have veterans holding others accountable, those vets also need to be held accountable themselves. Mack has been near-invisible of late, and Jackson’s errors were arguably much more costly than Ogletree’s penalty. It starts at the top, though, and with head coach Matt Nagy not really answering to anyone, perhaps there could be even more accountability within the walls of Halas Hall?
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