Matt Eberflus issues statement after head coach fired by Chicago Bears mid-season

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There was new reaction Saturday after head coach Matt Eberflus was cut loose by the Chicago Bears on Friday.

Eberflus was fired hours after he held a news conference on Zoom and said he was confident he would be coaching the Bears against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 8.

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Eberflus issued the following statement Saturday:

"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience. What I am most proud of was the way you carried yourself both on and off the field and represented the Bears organization with class in the community. To the fans, thank you for your support and passion. I will always have a deep appreciation for the Bears organization and the city of Chicago."

The final straw was a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, punctuated by Eberflus not calling timeout with 32 seconds remaining and the Bears facing a third-and-26 at the Lions' 41. After being sacked, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams tried to rush his teammates to the line of scrimmage. But the slow-developing play, a long pass attempt to Rome Odunze, allowed time to run out before Cairo Santos had a shot to tie it with a 58-yard field goal attempt.

"We did enough as players to win this game," Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen said Thursday.

READ MORE | Chicago Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus, first in-season coaching change in franchise history

Many fans told ABC7 it'll be hard to trust that management will get the right coach moving forward. It's deja vu for bears fans across Chicago as they watched the team fire another head coach. The decision to part ways with Eberflus is something many fans say was long overdue.

"I think a couple weeks overdue with Eberflus," Bears fan Tom O'Malley said. "Let's be honest, big picture here, it's the McCaskeys. What're we doing? You send that guy out for a presser this morning at 9 a.m., and then two hours later you fire him... brutal."

After watching the Bears lose six straight games, fans say this cycle of dysfunction is something they're all too familiar with.

"I really really thought this year we had our chance," Bears fan John Reed said. "It's just part of being a Bears fan. You just kind of get used to it."

So the cycle continues for the Bears and their fans. Many told ABC7 they're optimistic about interim head coach Thomas Brown turning things around this season.

"I want to see someone who can command respect from his players," a Bears fan named Vince said. "That's what I thought Eberflus lost. He lost the locker room, and when you lose that, you lose everything."

Bears could find working with interim coach Brown different than with Eberflus

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown has been key in Williams' improvement and now Brown is the interim head coach besides being the play caller.

It has been apparent since Brown took over as offensive coordinator for the fired Shane Waldron that they had a coach with a more fiery personality than Eberflus.

"I'm a pretty direct person," Brown said last week about being the Chicago OC.

Brown has never been a head coach but his coaching style was obvious when he took over as coordinator after Waldron's firing. He'll try to bring a high-energy coaching style to the full team in much the way he did with Williams.

"So I think that can come off different ways to different people, but he (Williams) is not soft, which I appreciate," Brown said. "Me and soft people sometimes don't always see eye to eye, get along."

In the three games since Brown took over as offensive coordinator, Williams has completed 75 of 117 for 827 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 99.2. Prior to Brown's hiring, Williams had a passer rating of 81.0 with nine TD passes and five interception.

The 99.2 passer rating came against tougher NFC North opponents.

What Brown needs to work on with Williams and the whole team is obvious after they've lost three heartbreakers to NFC North teams and had rallies come up short in each game.

"We've been in many of these games where we were down and, you know, came back from 16, 10, you know, all these different scores," Williams said. "And so, you know, we have belief in ourselves and to be able to go out there and do that."

Now Brown needs to bring better finishes out of them than they had under Eberflus.

ESPN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.