Eberflus set to return to Dallas

Leading yourself: Eberflus had a long visit with Robert Quinn Wednesday after the Bears agreed to trade the veteran to the Eagles for a 2023 fourth-round draft pick. Eberflus gave thanks to Quinn for “everything he did while he was here.”

“The relationship that him and I built during the time he was here was outstanding,” Eberflus said. “His leadership was great. His work ethic was unbelievable on the field. And he certainly did a lot of great things for the Bears when he was here, so I just want to thank him for that. Strong family man. I really respect Robert Quinn, so I wish him the best of luck with the team he’s with now and nothing but the best for him.”

The departure of Quinn leaves a team captain position open. Eberflus is in the process of deciding whether or not it will be filled permanently.

While Quinn was undoubtedly one of the team’s biggest leaders, Eberflus has confidence in the rest of the team to collectively take over that role.

“I always go back to the messages I always tell the guys is that everyone’s a leader,” Eberflus said. “The first part of leadership is leading yourself and so we ask all of our guys to lead. I know we have four captains; we’ve got our leadership council and all that, but to me, everybody leads, and they do a good job of that. They do a good job of encouraging each other, being there for each other as teammates, and that’s what we expect. That’s no different than if it was him or anybody else. I think we have strong leadership inside the locker room and throughout the entire team, from the first man all the way to the last guy. And we have strong leadership in our coaching staff. We know we are partnering with the players, working with those guys to form the Chicago Bears, so I don’t really see that as big of a weight or a disruption as most people would see it as because of who we are and the men we have in the locker room.”

Eberflus applauded other veteran players including Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, Justin Jones, Jaylon Johnson and Al-Quadin Muhammad for their continued leadership on the defensive side.

“Everybody, like I said, is leading themselves first,” Eberflus said. “You lead through performance and then when you need to say something, you say it. When it’s needed. But you mostly lead by action. People get inspired by your actions, how you execute and the way you play the game more than words. Sometimes words are needed but that’s not that often.”