Chase Claypool's Outburst Explained
It was the kind of behavior the Bears of some bygone eras had on the sidelines, but not this group.
The Bears have been relatively calm as they've tried to grow through a nine-game losing streak, but wide receiver Chase Claypool erupted in Sunday's 41-10 loss at Detroit after a three-and-out. he had to be calmed down by Justin Fields during the game on the sideline.
Claypool threw down his helmet on the sideline during the outburst. On Wednesday, Claypool had to explain and claimed it had nothing to do with his statistics or number of play reps he had in the game as many have speculated.
"It was good," Claypool said. "I was all fired up because we can’t lose that bad, ever. We have to have a little bit more pride, a little bit more heart, so it don't happen again."
The fact he had no catches and one target had nothing to do with it, he insisted.
"No, I'll never do that," Claypool said. "Only time I get frustrated like that is if we're losing and I feel like I could be doing more. I'll never get frustrated and say, 'throw me the ball more, throw me the ball.'
"Maybe I'll say, 'Hey, I was open. I want to make a play for the team, we're down.' But never about my stats. I don't care about my stats.' "
It was a team thing, Claypool insists.
"Exactly. Even if it was 31-10 or whatever in the third quarter, we can still win that game," Claypool said. "You see what the Vikings did down 33-0 at halftime. We're always in every game, no matter what the score is for the most part until that final whistle blows.
"So it's like, I just want to feel that belief. I want to feel it. We're a good team. We're going to be a good team next year. But we have to be real uncomfortable with losing."
It wasn't the first time Claypool has been associated with not acting in the team's best interests.
James Rapien of FanNation's All Steelers noted an incident that drew Claypool criticism last December against Cincinnati. He had been celebrating a first down with less than a minute left, the clock running and the Steelers down by eight and trying to tie.
ESPN analyst and former Steelers cornerback Ryan Clark criticized Claypool for selfish play then.
"Chase Claypool is as mentally and emotionally underdeveloped as he is physically overdeveloped," Clark said. "This is a dude that has all the things you need from a physical standpoint to be a superstar wide receiver. He has a remedial level understanding of what it is to be a football player, of what it is to be a good teammate, of what it is to be a winner.
"He only cares about himself. And that self-centeredness is part of what's bringing the Steelers team and organization down."
Sunday seemed a peculiar time to get upset about losing by 31 points after the Bears had a season full of frustration and a club-record nine straight defeats.
Everyone has a different breaking point apparently.
"Honestly, I was like, you know, coming off the field, three-and-out, sit on the bench, do the same thing over," Claypool said. "Something's gotta change in that moment. We gotta realize the drives where we have to score. We have to realize when it's not OK to go three-and-out. We gotta act that way.
"If we go three-and-out, it can't just be OK. And it isn't. But we gotta really have that fire and energy and realize that, yo, it's time to go. We went three-and-out two times in a row. They're scoring points. The lead's getting bigger. What are we gonna do about it?"
Apparently Fields didn't think what needed to be done was a fit of anger with a helmet thrown.
"It's good," Claypool said. "We had a good little back and forth. I was telling him my side and he was telling him his side and we came to common ground.
"It's always good when you can have that exchange with a quarterback that always follows up with mutual respect."
Claypool called Fields a kindred spirit.
"Competitor," he said. "He's one of those guys that hates losing just as much as I do. We see common ground on that. It's good to know there's a guy throwing you the ball who wants to win just as bad as you do."
The thing is, Fields is throwing the ball and not his helmet.
"Just a buildup of that game," Claypool said. "You know, like, I just always believe that we're in every game, no matter what the score is. If it's the third quarter and we're down 21, I still think we can win. And I want to see other people believe that with me.
"I don't want people to get comfortable going three-and-out or, 'Damn, we've been here before,' And, 'we know how to lose.' Not 'know how to lose,' but find that comfort, that, 'Damn, this just happened last week. Or this just happened two weeks ago or three weeks ago.' We've gotta be uncomfortable with being in that position."
At least Claypool hasn't given up hope after only half a Bears season since coming over in a trade with Pittsburgh.
"We're super young, we've lost a lot of games by one possession," he said. "We've lost games where we were up in the fourth quarter. That's why we got to really realize when we can put a game away. When we are up nine points in the fourth quarter against Green Bay, we got to win that game. When we're up in the fourth quarter against Detroit, we've got to win that game—the first time we played them.
"A lot of games have been decided by one possession or one score. That's what makes me think we'll be a good team."
Not without growing pains, apparently.
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