If Martellus Bennett had a problem with teammates while he was a member of the Bears, he should have said so at the time, according to at least one of those teammates.

Speaking as part of a recent ESPN E:60 “Brofile,” Bennett denigrated the leadership of quarterback Jay Cutler. “Some people that you want to be a leader are not the guy that’s the leader,” Bennett said. “And everyone in the locker room knows that this is not the leader — but this is what you want the face of the team to look like.”

Then Bennett hosed down a wider arc: “We just had a bunch of bitches on the roster — that’s why we didn’t win games — and coaches liked the bitches,” Bennett said.

Bennett backed out of a planned with media during the Bears’ joint practices with the Patriots in August. Whether that was because Bears players were in the vicinity or not, or he did not find the forum to his liking, might be explanations.

As far as directly insulting unnamed teammates, however, “Why didn’t he say that while he was here?” mused wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

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The Bears have other problems on their minds, beginning with a 1-4 record. One said he wasn’t talking about people who weren’t here. In any case, the situation appeared to qualify as neither a distraction, nor a complete surprise.

“I think most of our guys are way beyond that, they're professionals, they've been around for a while,” Bears head coach John Fox said. “Typically in a football season there's a lot of outside noise but I don't think it'll faze our group.

“I'll be honest with you, I didn't pay them any mind.”