Bears Matt Eberflus praises players in first comments since firing

In Matt Eberflus' final appearance as Bears' coach Friday, he defended the poor clock management that ultimately pushed the team to fire him. He was not aware at the time that he would be fired that day, and Saturday released a statement thanking the team and praising his players.

Here is the statement Eberflus released to CBS:

“I would like to thank the McCaskey family and Ryan Poles for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Bears. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience. In every situation — practice, games and especially in the face of adversity, you stayed together and gave great effort for your team and each other.

"What I am most proud of was the way you carried yourself both on and off the field and represented the Bears' organization with class in the community. To the fans, thank you for your support and passion. I will always have a deep appreciation for the Bears organization and the city of Chicago.”

Eberflus went 14-32 in two-plus seasons as coach before the team replaced him with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.