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Emery On Kromer Controversy: 'Angry, Disappointed, Upset'

By Chris Emma-

(CBS) In his first public comments since the Aaron Kromer controversy, Bears general manager Phil Emery admitted that mistakes were made.

"I was very angry with what happened -- disappointed, upset, like many of our fans and like many of our players, which was obvious because that's how the information got out, in terms of Aaron's apology to the team," Emery said on the WBBM Radio pregame show on Monday night.

The Bears' offensive coordinator, Kromer outed himself last Monday in a meeting with the offense as the source who made critical remarks about quarterback Jay Cutler to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport following Chicago's loss to Dallas on Dec. 4. The reasons as to why Kromer revealed himself remain a mystery, but it caused yet another controversy at Halas Hall, bringing the team's dysfunction and lack of trust to light.

Kromer gave a tearful apology to the team, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The venting by a coach and the way it was brought about was surprising," Emery said. "That brought a lot of anger. However, we have a system in place to deal with adversity. I trust our system. It's a system where we let emotions subside and work through the decision process or all the details that anything would entail in terms of an issue. It also allows us to treat everybody with respect."

Emery didn't address the future of coach Marc Trestman or any of the Bears' assistants. He did, however, that it was Trestman's decision to keep Kromer on staff.

After the drama, many outsiders called for Kromer's firing.

"We're set up in a top-down (system)," Emery said. "Very much a military fashion, and we always want to deal with problems and issues as they come at the lowest level possible, before they involve other people."

The Bears are hosting the Saints on Monday Night Football.

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