What does Lovie Smith think about all the folks calling for his head?
“I don’t listen to it, I don’t read it,” he said. “I don’t know what people are talking about and don’t really care to know.
“But if you’ve played the way we’ve played, I’m assuming everyone is writing something bad. It doesn’t affect what we’re doing here. We haven’t played well and we need to play better. It’s as simple as that.”
Nothing seems elementary about Smith’s job these days. A coach once lauded for taking his team to the Super Bowl now is vilified for coordinating a defense unable to stop anyone in recent weeks.
“Yeah, it bothers me,” defensive end Alex Brown said in defense of Smith. “Coach has done an excellent job for this organization. He actually brought us from … when I got here in 2002-03, we won like 10 games in two years. He has taken us to the Super Bowl. We’ve won an NFC championship. He has made us a winning team again.
“I know there are a lot of fans out there who still support and still really, really love the Bears and really love coming to the games. Yeah, they want us to play better. Yeah, we want to play better. But there are also some out there who believe they have all the answers. We’re not going to change what we do. We believe it works. We just have to do it better.”
Thursday night’s matchup with the 49ers (3-5) might feel like a must-win game for the Bears, considering they have dropped three of their last four. But Smith, with a 49-39 record in six seasons, refuses to subscribe to any storylines focused on his future.
“Outside things don’t affect anything we’re doing right now,” he said. “I can understand why people are disappointed, like we are.
“People have been disappointed at the half of a game a lot of times and end up being happy at the end. That’s how I see this playing out.”
Smith has allowed his frustration to show in scattered moments throughout this slump, but he has yet to lose his composure, at least not publicly. He believes the Bears are poised to make a playoff run, even at 4-4 and well behind the 7-1 Vikings in the NFC North.
Leadership has been a key topic, and Smith suggested his players show the trait simply by doing their jobs. In terms of the defensive struggles, scrapping the scheme and bringing in any impact players is unlikely at this point despite the Bears falling to 21st in the league against the run.
For Smith, the second half of the season is about staying true to his beliefs. His players certainly believe in him.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Smith,” defensive lineman Israel Idonije said. “It doesn’t start with him. It starts with us. He’s the coach, but the coach can only do so much.”
Brown echoed those sentiments.
“Coach’s job is hard, and it’s on us as players to make it a little easier,” he said. “We can definitely make it easier if we go out and win this game Thursday night.”
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vxmcclure@tribune.com
