The Bears fire Shane Waldron and promote Thomas Brown to offensive coordinator

Shane Waldron is out as the Bears' offensive coordinator after just nine games.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Bears have fired Waldron and are replacing him with Thomas Brown.

Brown previously held the title of offensive passing game coordinator, but now he will take over Waldron's duties and direct the Bears' offensive plays.

Something had to change in Chicago, where Caleb Williams was a disappointing first overall rookie pick. He played perhaps his worst game yet in Sunday's loss to the Patriots, totaling just 120 yards on 16 of 30 passes and losing 51 yards with nine sacks. That's an average of just 1.8 yards on his 39 dropbacks, an unacceptable number for any NFL offense.

Whether Brown can get Williams back on track remains to be seen, but head coach Matt Eberflus obviously knows that if he doesn't show progress with Williams this year, someone else will be coaching Williams and the Bears next year. Chicago still has eight games left and will likely need to win at least five of them to save Eberflus' job.