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By Kevin Fishbain
Jan 11, 2023
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — General manager Ryan Poles took advice from
a mentor to consider what success might look like if he ignored wins and
losses.
That turned out to be important advice for the 2022 Bears season.
“It was really about the foundation that we built this year,”
Poles said Tuesday at Halas Hall. “I was excited about that. I was excited
about the progress that we made.
“I think two things can be true, too. I think you can be
disappointed in the losses, right? That’s not what we’re here to do. It hurts.
I joked early, it feels like part of your football soul gets ripped out when
you got to do it over and over and over again. But the resilience that this
organization showed was outstanding.”
The Bears went 3-14, setting franchise records for losses and
with a 10-game losing streak. They also enter 2023 with the most salary-cap
space in football, the No. 1 pick in the draft, and to Poles and head coach
Matt Eberflus, a foundation.
Here are 10 takeaways from Tuesday’s news conference, looking
ahead to what the Bears hope they can build on in 2023.
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7. Return on investment in free agents
Poles also mentioned
right tackle Riley Reiff as someone who helped set the
tone.
“That guy did more than a
lot of people think for that O-line room and the mentality,” Poles said. “When
I first got here, I wasn’t fired up on how we protected the quarterback in
terms of getting ’em off the ground and that attitude and that physicality.
He’s a reason why we ran the ball so well. We finished. We had an attitude. We
had an identity and that’s a lot because of guys like him.”
