Akiem Hicks Quietly Prepares Sans Contract

Without a 2022 contract, Akiem Hicks has made it a point not to speak with media during training camp after establishing himself as one of the most candid players the Bears have.

Akiem Hicks' silence is disturbing.

The NFL requires players to speak to the media on a regular basis, although there are plenty of examples of teams deciding not to enforce this policy. The Seattle Seahawks and Marshawn Lynch are a prime example of this type of thing happening in the past.

The phrase is right there in plain writing in the league's policy for player accessibility.

"It is not permissible for any player or any group of players to boycott the media." The league requires players to be accessible for interviews once during the week leading up to games and then after games, although the postgame process changed somewhat because of COVID-19 when Zoom interviews were used.

Players fines for this are rarely disclosed if not rare.

It's a sad situation for Chicago fans and media when Hicks has decided not to talk to media members because he so effectively communicates his feelings and often those of the team. He might have been the best at doing this on the team.

When the Bears lost the double-doink playoff game in such excruciating fashion, no one in the locker room more effectively described the players' anguish afterward than Hicks.

At least he hasn't done interviews this year to date. 

It's possible he could end this self-imposed silence during the next week prior to the Rams game, but no one knows.

He had a strange incident at training camp where he left the practice field as the workout was just starting and didn't return, but the next day was back practicing and coach Matt Nagy offered up nothing in terms of injury and wouldn't explain what happened. 

GM Ryan Pace went beyond offering up nothing.

"That feels like six months ago to me, so I don’t even remember," Pace said.

Pace wanted to address Hicks' silence no more than anyone else.

"I don’t want to speak for him on that," Nagy said. "For me, Akiem has been in an unbelievable place. How he’s been as a teammate, how he’s been in our building, the shape he’s in right now, the effort that he’s playing with right now has been awesome, so I think he’s gonna have a really big year and we’re excited about that.”

Nagy did call distractions something he likes to avoid.

"It's a distraction," Nagy said. "And I'd tell Hicks the same thing, Ryan (Pace) the same thing. Let's not have distractions. Let's focus on today and what you can do to be great because if you handle your business, you come every day and you're a true pro and you do everything we want you to do it and we work together, everything will take care of itself. And he's done that. 

'That kind of goes back to the last part. That's all he can do and he gets it."

The reasons why it's going on are difficult to imagine, although it's often been speculated it has something to do with his lack of a contract for 2022. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had been spotted at Halas Hall during training camp but no contract talk reports have been forthcoming.

It was ironic on Thursday when Tashaun Gipson described Hicks' leadership this year.

"That was just a role that he's had since last year, specifically this year he's a little more vocal," Gipson said. "Having guys like that is huge for a defense; I think that a lot of guys feed off that."

Apparently he's only vocal with teammates.

The Bears coach continues to stay out of this Hicks-media standoff.

"Yeah, again, it's ah, I understand it and I'm not going to get into a back and forth match with that with him," Matt Nagy said.

At least Nagy let everyone know Hicks is alive and well in the No. 96 jersey.

"It's funny you ask that, I grabbed him the other day and I brought him over and said just how appreciative I am of the way he has handled this training camp," Nagy said. "I mean he has practiced hard, he's being a great leader in the meetings, 

"I mean he's really been awesome and for that I told him, you know, sometimes we as coaches can always talk about the bad, whether it's what you did wrong in a play, right, or what we need to do here or there across the board. And a lot of times, we don't sometimes give enough praise when we just take it for granted. I told him, I said listen man I love your leadership, I love the way you're handling this summer and where you're at and it's really neat to see right now where you're at."

It's just not in a place where the media and fans can see. 

And that's too bad for everyone.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven