Matt Forte and the Bears say they have put Sunday’s postgame events behind them. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
FOXBORO — Following the Bears’ 27-14 home loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, much was made of a reported heated locker room incident where Brandon Marshall reportedly called out some of his teammates, including quarterback Jay Cutler.
The players and their coach are putting the incident behind them, calling it a non-issue.
“It’s really no big deal what happened after the game,” running back Matt Forte said on a conference call Wednesday. “Nothing really happened. People yell and scream in the locker room all the time. It just so happens that they heard some stuff. After a loss like that, being our third loss at home, we’re going to have to rally no matter what.”
“I’ve been in NFL locker rooms for 20 years. To me there was nothing there that was at all out of the ordinary or unique, in my opinion,” coach Marc Trestman added. “Players moved on today. That’s really it. That’s really all there is.”
Some of the frustration stems from their performance at home — going winless in three home games so far this season. They have played much better on the road, going 3-1 — their latest a 27-13 win over Atlanta two weeks ago.
“There’s really no secret,” Forte said. “We’ve played solid football when we go win on the road, and at home it’s just changed for some reason. On the road, we’ve taken care of the football pretty well, and our defense has gotten a lot of takeaways. Last week on Sunday, our defense played well enough for us to win the game, but we had too many turnovers. For us to win the game and after this game and the bye week when we start playing some home games, we need to carry that over to our home games, too, and play consistent football where we’re not turning it over.”
The biggest key for the Bears this season has been taking care of the ball. It’s been pretty cut and dry, as when Cutler throws an interception the Bears are 0-4, and when he doesn’t they are 3-0.
“It’s one of the main things we talk about is taking care of the football, protecting the quarterback and establishing the run game,” Forte said. “In the games that we’ve won, we’ve done that. In the games that we’ve lost, we haven’t done it. It’s not a secret formula to winning games or how we play well. We just have to play consistently like when we’ve won the games that we have won.”