Bears 12.0

[fleet]

This is a pretty bleak way to go through life.

I get by. It’s unfortunate you’re unable to hold a debate instead of getting personal. That’s bleak for a discussion thread.

I'm not "getting personal." Saying that it doesn't matter if this guy has a serious illness or what have you and that all that matters is if he turns into a good football player is, in fact, bleak (and gross).

The Bears organization does not deserve trust and confidence. I get it. But given this guy may have something quite serious going on in his life that may not have been known or knowable to the Bears, maybe we just take a breath for a minute.

Sorry, not sorry, all about laundry for me as far as evaluating the FO acquisitions record. And I’m not pretending to be personally involved in players lives. That’s imaginary.

Not interested in your opinion of me. Unless you’re posting from a soup kitchen instead of wasting time online on the Bears, look at yourself. Other than that, lets talk Bears from now on, or not engage.

[TheJordanRule]

I get by. It’s unfortunate you’re unable to hold a debate instead of getting personal. That’s bleak for a discussion thread.

Come into the light my brother feel the suns rays against your face. Be hopeful with us there’s a very good chance this season is going to be awesome. By no means is it perfect and yes it could sideways but today it’s better being a Bears fan than it has been in a long time. Embrace it give yourself to the great energy we’re in.

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

He may come across as bitter from time to time, brother, but Fleet's powers of observation and deep understanding of the game are impressive and a big reason why some people come to this board. TBH, I'm more bitter when I'm super passionate about a team like the Bulls, and the FO is futzing it up the way they have. Doesn't make me any less of a fan, brother.

[fleet]

Come into the light my brother feel the suns rays against your face. Be hopeful with us there’s a very good chance this season is going to be awesome. By no means is it perfect and yes it could sideways but today it’s better being a Bears fan than it has been in a long time. Embrace it give yourself to the great energy we’re in.

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

It’s a symbiotic partnership. When the wins come both will get credit for their roles in it. Let’s say we win a SuperBowl at the end of it are you going to say Poles gets no credit and it’s only because he got out of the way?

Devil is in the details. He has done better on his job this year so far imo. Doesn’t mean he did well prior

[fleet]

Come into the light my brother feel the suns rays against your face. Be hopeful with us there’s a very good chance this season is going to be awesome. By no means is it perfect and yes it could sideways but today it’s better being a Bears fan than it has been in a long time. Embrace it give yourself to the great energy we’re in.

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

He may come across as bitter from time to time, brother, but Fleet's powers of observation and deep understanding of the game are impressive and a big reason why some people come to this board. TBH, I'm more bitter when I'm super passionate about a team like the Bulls, and the FO is futzing it up the way they have. Doesn't make me any less of a fan, brother.

Talking about bitterness. What Bears fans have been put through by the McCaskeys and recent regimes is obvious. If one is not critically withholding money and support, and sounding off under those conditions, one is a willing, enabling victim. No thanks to the recruitment. I’ll be there for the fair weather.

[nomorezorro]

the fact that it's so easy to be justifiably pessimistic about the bears is all the more reason not to harp on situations we know next to nothing about as evidence of the organization's incompetence

a fifth round pick had something happen in their life that the team is unwilling to disclose and will prevent them from doing their job for a full year. if your reaction to that is "this is embarrassing and the team screwed up" instead of "i hope everything is ok," then i don't really understand why you would bother following this team closely enough to even know what's going on with a fifth round pick

[fleet]

If not a mental condition (which is often under the medical umbrella these days), it’s still hard to believe they didn’t suss this out pre draft. He may have gone higher if whatever this was wasn’t suspected or suspicious. The Bears had some obvious needs to take care of instead of red shirting a 25 year old guy by not getting a clear evaluation before they drafted him. This was a bad beat, avoidable perhaps with either better discipline, or investigation.

Yeah, I'm not really stating an opinion on whether we could have/should have picked it up. Without even knowing what it is or how it presented or anything else, I think that's really tough to even guess about. Just was saying it didn't seem to be a character issue.

I would guess it isn't a mental condition, because you wouldn't rule someone out for the season before it begins and say they can still be around the team, but can't play. That doesn't make sense for someone dealing with anxiety or depression or bipolar or something like that. You also wouldn't likely say that you found the "root cause" of a mental condition and you're going to treat it over a year. That just isn't really an applicable approach for a mental condition.

That's why I said it sounds like cancer. Something that you know the treatment will leave him too weak to participate in football activities, but still allow him to be around the team. There are other things too perhaps like if he needed to be on dialysis or some types of blood clots and probably a host of other things, but all the things I can think of in this category are extremely serious.

Last I heard was that he was around last week working out in some capacity. It doesn’t sound like something dire like cancer in that case, more like diabetes if we are to try and extend this tea leaf process on medical possibilities. At this point, Poles wants to be mysterious, and given his track record of incomplete homework with that mysterious statement, I can’t extend confidence that the Bears were as thorough as they could have been whatever it is. We’re just gonna find out someday. Meantime, I can envision a scenario where Al Harris pounded the table, Poles said cool, fait accompli. Because Poles has earned the suspicion.

[fleet]

i don't really understand

Cool. Bears.

[Dresden]

I get by. It’s unfortunate you’re unable to hold a debate instead of getting personal. That’s bleak for a discussion thread.

Come into the light my brother feel the suns rays against your face. Be hopeful with us there’s a very good chance this season is going to be awesome. By no means is it perfect and yes it could sideways but today it’s better being a Bears fan than it has been in a long time. Embrace it give yourself to the great energy we’re in.

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

What exactly has Ben won? Poles was an executive for a SB winning organization. He's more of a proven winner than Ben is.

[TheJordanRule]

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

He may come across as bitter from time to time, brother, but Fleet's powers of observation and deep understanding of the game are impressive and a big reason why some people come to this board. TBH, I'm more bitter when I'm super passionate about a team like the Bulls, and the FO is futzing it up the way they have. Doesn't make me any less of a fan, brother.

Talking about bitterness. What Bears fans have been put through by the McCaskeys and recent regimes is obvious. If one is not critically withholding money and support, and sounding off under those conditions, one is a willing, enabling victim. No thanks to the recruitment. I’ll be there for the fair weather.

I agree wholeheartedly. Last year I watched us run the same ole predictable stuff and tried to tell my nieces and nephews, "Welp...This is what football looked like in '85, kids!"

[dougthonus]

Last I heard was that he was around last week working out in some capacity. It doesn’t sound like something dire like cancer in that case, more like diabetes if we are to try and extend this tea leaf process on medical possibilities. At this point, Poles wants to be mysterious, and given his track record of incomplete homework with that mysterious statement, I can’t extend confidence that the Bears were as thorough as they could have been whatever it is. We’re just gonna find out someday. Meantime, I can envision a scenario where Al Harris pounded the table, Poles said cool, fait accompli. Because Poles has earned the suspicion.

I doubt he wants to be mysterious. He likely has a legal requirement to be mysterious because of HIPAA.

[fleet]

Last I heard was that he was around last week working out in some capacity. It doesn’t sound like something dire like cancer in that case, more like diabetes if we are to try and extend this tea leaf process on medical possibilities. At this point, Poles wants to be mysterious, and given his track record of incomplete homework with that mysterious statement, I can’t extend confidence that the Bears were as thorough as they could have been whatever it is. We’re just gonna find out someday. Meantime, I can envision a scenario where Al Harris pounded the table, Poles said cool, fait accompli. Because Poles has earned the suspicion.

I doubt he wants to be mysterious. He likely has a legal requirement to be mysterious because of HIPAA.

Everyone knew Jay Cutler had diabetes, and openly discussed . If the player wants it to be a secret thats a different story.

[dougthonus]

Everyone knew Jay Cutler had diabetes, and openly discussed . If the player wants it to be a secret thats a different story.

Presuming what is going on is a protected health condition, and it sure sounds that way, then no Bears official can talk about it in any detail whatsoever legally. If Frazier publicly discloses it, I'd imagine they can then discuss what is publicly disclosed and can offer no information that is not already publicly disclosed, but would likely opt to say only super generic things around supporting him to ensure they don't get sued even in that case.

If he disclosed he had diabetes or something similar, then the talking heads can talk all they want about diabetes, but anyone who has confidential information still cannot share anything that is non public.

In this case, without more information, I find it highly unlikely there is any reason to be critical of the Bears. Probably whatever they found through extensive testing was not something they would have found pre-draft, and they also likely have no legal option to provide any detail other than what has already been provided. This feels like a "bad luck" situation while now following a legally defined process to me.

[jnrjr79]

Everyone knew Jay Cutler had diabetes, and openly discussed . If the player wants it to be a secret thats a different story.

Presuming what is going on is a protected health condition, and it sure sounds that way, then no Bears official can talk about it in any detail whatsoever legally. If Frazier publicly discloses it, I'd imagine they can then discuss what is publicly disclosed and can offer no information that is not already publicly disclosed, but would likely opt to say only super generic things around supporting him to ensure they don't get sued even in that case.

If he disclosed he had diabetes or something similar, then the talking heads can talk all they want about diabetes, but anyone who has confidential information still cannot sure anything that is non public.

They can to the extent the player consents, but he may not want the Bears talking about it, in which case Poles is doing the best he can.

[Dresden]

This doesn't sound like a health condition to me, because players are usually pretty forthcoming about that sort of thing. It's hard to guess what sort of personal issue it might be, but it likely will be disclosed in due time, whatever it is. In any case, I'm glad the Bears were able to reach him and help him get whatever help he needs. Too often players don't get the help they need and end up ruining not only their careers but their lives as well.

[fleet]

Everyone knew Jay Cutler had diabetes, and openly discussed . If the player wants it to be a secret thats a different story.

Presuming what is going on is a protected health condition, and it sure sounds that way, then no Bears official can talk about it in any detail whatsoever legally. If Frazier publicly discloses it, I'd imagine they can then discuss what is publicly disclosed and can offer no information that is not already publicly disclosed, but would likely opt to say only super generic things around supporting him to ensure they don't get sued even in that case.

If he disclosed he had diabetes or something similar, then the talking heads can talk all they want about diabetes, but anyone who has confidential information still cannot share anything that is non public.

In this case, without more information, I find it highly unlikely there is any reason to be critical of the Bears. Probably whatever they found through extensive testing was not something they would have found pre-draft, and they also likely have no legal option to provide any detail other than what has already been provided. This feels like a "bad luck" situation while now following a legally defined process to me.

I’m not interested in the health condition or anything else in detail further than how it affects his availability going forward. I’m interested in the Bears draft processes around it, whatever the definition “it” is. Poles avoidance could be considered protective if you want to be generous. Or it could be self protective too. This is a GM that doesn’t have a stop sign, that’s proven.

[nomorezorro]

the specifics of his situation are highly relevant to the degree to which it reflects any sort of failure in the bears evaluation process, and we have no way of knowing those specifics. seems like a deal where there's no need to make any conclusions until you have the information necessary to draw one

[jnrjr79]

the specifics of his situation are highly relevant to the degree to which it reflects any sort of failure in the bears evaluation process, and we have no way of knowing those specifics. seems like a deal where there's no need to make any conclusions until you have the information necessary to draw one

Yep. If it were, say, something like cancer (and I certainly hope it is not), then no NFL team is going to be screening for that. Then, the player shows up not feeling quite right, goes through testing, and you find out that’s what it was all along.

If it’s something that should have been caught in the medical screening process, then of course you have reason to be critical of the Bears. I just don’t see why, at this point, it’s productive to be like “I think Ryan Poles sucks and therefore this is somehow his fault,” particularly when I doubt Poles himself would even be responsible for catching whatever the issue was in the first place.

In any event, it’s probably just not all that productive to talk about since all of us, myself included, have no idea what’s going on and are just trying to read tea leaves.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

Come into the light my brother feel the suns rays against your face. Be hopeful with us there’s a very good chance this season is going to be awesome. By no means is it perfect and yes it could sideways but today it’s better being a Bears fan than it has been in a long time. Embrace it give yourself to the great energy we’re in.

I take it as it comes, not as I hope. That’s real. I realize most fans don’t fan in reality. Its pollyanaiism. Thanks for the well wishes. Ben will win if Poles doesn’t get in his way because Ben is a winner.

What exactly has Ben won? Poles was an executive for a SB winning organization. He's more of a proven winner than Ben is.

Who made the Bears an attractive destination for the hottest OC since sliced bread?

[fleet]

“Happened before he was drafted”

Read on Twitter

“Discovered after he was drafted”

Read on Twitter

[jnrjr79]

“Happened before he was drafted”

Read on Twitter

We all knew that as part of this discussion. Hence the talk about whether it’s something that should have been caught during screening processes vs. not.

This is the Poles quote that tweet is based on:

“He had a situation that presented itself in a category that I would say is personal,” Poles said. “As we dug into it, tried to help him out, it revealed itself as something that happened before he got here. So credit to our staff finding the root cause of what he was going through.”

Poles called it “kind of a bummer” but added that the team’s work on the situation has Frazier on the right path.

https://www.bleachernation.com/bears/2025/08/27/ryan-poles-speaks-0827/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%2520we%2520dug%2520into%2520it,Frazier%2520on%2520the%2520right%2520path.

So whatever it was, it sounds like it was something that “happened” before the draft, that whatever that event is is the “root cause,” but that it was discovered by someone on the “staff” after he was with the Bears.