Bears Coach Matt Eberflus Speaks On Roquan Smith Refusing To Participate In Practice

The Chicago Bears have a problem on their hands with middle linebacker Roquan Smith.

Earlier in the week, Smith escalated his contractual holdout from the team by publicly demanding to be traded. In his social media post to fans, Smith expressed his concern with how new Bears general manager Ryan Poles had disrespected him in contract negotiations.

“I haven’t had the chance to talk to the McCaskey family, and maybe they can salvage this, but as of right now I don’t see a path back to the organization I truly love,” Smith said at the time.

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Bears Linebacker Roquan Smith Publicly Bashes His Team Ahead of Family Fest Dayhttps://t.co/DuPCozlBI9

— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) August 9, 2022

Shortly after Roquan Smith took his situation public, Ryan Poles opted to play hard ball, and the Bears took the linebacker off the PUP list — meaning he could now get fined for missing team practices.

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Amid Roquan Smith’s request for the Bears to trade him, Chicago took the linebacker off the PUP list https://t.co/6AsVfCCuPG

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 11, 2022

Still, Roquan Smith did not participate in the Bears Training Camp practice this morning. And when asked about why he chose to sit out, coach Matt Eberflus deflected.

“The reason why for that is you’ll have to ask him,” Eberflus said after practice.

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Chicago Bears HC Matt Eberflus said that he expected Roquan Smith to practice today because he was cleared to practice but he didn't.

Eberflus: "The reason why for that is you'll have to ask him."

(Via @ChicagoBears)

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) August 11, 2022

After Roquan Smith re-iterated his trade stance, Ryan Poles met with the media to express his feelings that he still hopes to get a deal done before the season begins.

“Right now, my intention is to sign Roquan to this team,” Poles said Monday via Sports Illustrated. “We’re gonna take it day by day and at the end of the day we got to do what’s best for the organization. But my intention are to make sure Roquan Smith is on this team.”

At this point, the whole Roquan Smith situation looks ugly for the Bears. But perhaps Ryan Poles can still salvage it.

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