Interim Bears coach Thomas Brown didn’t anticipate his weight loss journey to be this dramatic.
During a press conference Wednesday, Brown explained that he dropped more than 20 pounds — going from 225 pounds down to 203 — since he took over for fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday following a loss to the Lions last Thursday, Chicago’s sixth straight defeat.
It’s been a hectic three-week span for Brown, who went from getting promoted from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator with the Nov. 12 firing of Shane Waldron to being elevated to head coach on Nov. 29.
Brown said he started a weight loss journey in early November, but wasn’t having luck shedding pounds until he felt the weight of his new role.
“The major change, the [players] probably don’t know … I was trying to go on a weight loss journey about 20 days ago and I couldn’t lose weight at all,” Brown said. “I was about 225 [pounds] the morning of the announcement of being the (offensive coordinator).
“This morning, I was 203 [pounds],”
Brown and the reporters laughed.
“I wouldn’t even say it was stress [induced],” he continued. “I think stress could help out. I’m not really stressed. But what I realized, if you increase tasks to your day you forget about food.
“And so, I went a couple days and just really didn’t eat. Didn’t even think about it. I wasn’t hungry. I was thinking about the next moment, what to say to this player, doing game planning and I look up and I’m almost 30 pound down so we’ll keep going — see how long it lasts.”
Brown quipped that “if it doesn’t work out” with coaching, he will write a book one day.
He said he sent individual messages to his team when he took over as head coach and that he understands and respects that people’s jobs depend on the head coach.
Eberflus was fired a day after Chicago butchered its time management in a 23-20 road loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving.
Trailing by three with a chance to tie the game in the final minute, the Bears ran the clock from 32 seconds down to six seconds with one timeout left while at the Lions’ 41-yard line before quarterback Caleb Williams fired an incomplete pass to wideout Rome Odunze as time expired.
Instead of calling a timeout for a quick play call with a 59-yard field goal looming, the Bears let the clock run out, with Williams looking panicked before throwing a deep, incomplete pass to end the game.
In his postgame press conference, Eberflus said he “liked” how his team handled the final seconds, which led to backlash from many.
The Bears allowed Eberflus to conduct a press conference the next morning, during which he expressed confidence that his job was safe.
He was fired shortly thereafter.
Tensions were mounting behind the scenes, as players grew frustrated with Eberflus not taking responsibility for a number of things, according to The Athletic’s Diana Russini.
Eberflus finished 14-32 as the Bears’ head coach.
Brown is now tasked with coaching a Bears team that dropped to 4-8 heading into a Week 14 road clash with the 49ers (5-7).