Let's be clear about this. Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks wasn't caught up in some Jim Mora-like rant. There was no cartoon smoke blowing from his ears and no train whistle screeching above his head.

Hicks wasn't venting from some prisoner-of-the-moment agitation he couldn't control.

Nope. At the end of an embarrassing Thursday night in Green Bay, Hicks was simply a veteran leader of a last-place football team gathering his thoughts and carefully assessing the wreckage.

A 35-14 loss? A minus-four turnover margin? The Bears' second humiliating road defeat in 11 days?

How could the Bears' psyche withstand all that mounting failure?

"I will say this: there's going to be some conversation that needs to be had," Hicks stated calmly. "Or actually maybe it should be a little less talking and just putting stuff together that we need to put together."

A few minutes later, Hicks was asked what the Bears could accomplish before their next game Oct. 9 against the Vikings.

"Hopefully a lot," he said. "Hopefully we get a lot of things answered. Hopefully the changes we need to make, we make those changes. Hopefully we put our team in a position to win — on defense and offense."

Notice Hicks never said Mike Glennon's name. Notice he never even mentioned the quarterback position. But welcome to October 2017, where the 1-3 Bears are already in read-between-the-lines mode, stuck in an agonizing cycle of losing that may not change until significant changes are enacted at their most important position.

And if there was one consistent theme being offered up in the aftermath of the latest collapse, it centered around "changes." Hicks said that word. So did John Fox.

"We need to make a lot of changes," the Bears coach acknowledged. "We'll evaluate everything."

Photos from the Bears-Packers game at Lambeau Field on Sept. 28, 2017.

Translation: the Bears simply cannot go on as previously scheduled. Not like this. Not with a starting quarterback who can't take care of the football and an offense that through four games now has more turnovers (nine) than scoring drives (eight).

Maybe once upon a time, in the comforts of the summer and the preseason, there was a best-case-scenario for rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky's development, a vision to bring the 23-year-old along slowly and outside the cauldron of NFL regular season action.

But that ideal-world plan general manager Ryan Pace formulated hinged on Glennon being a reliable bridge to carry the Bears into the Trubisky era. Instead, planks continue falling into the canyon. Rapidly. One turnover at a time, the cables are fraying with an entire team now fearful of potential freefall.

That much was evident in a depressed visitors locker room Thursday night at Lambeau Field. A quarter of the way into the season, hope was disintegrating. Desperation seemed to be shoving patience aside.

Tight end Zach Miller was honest in his assessment of the loss late Thursday night, calling it embarrassing. Miller doubled-down on that assertion Friday, noting how on a prime-time stage, in one of the NFL's most energizing venues, with a storied rivalry deadlocked in its all-time series, the Bears fell flat on their faces.

"To go out and perform that way is embarrassing," Miller said. "I truly believe we're a better football team than that. But you have to prove it. And in that instance, we just didn't do it."

So now the Bears find themselves in quite the pickle, their hand potentially forced with the most important player for the franchise's future. Ideally, Pace still might want to stick with his plan, to nurture Trubisky's growth with great care and to avoid forcing him into a situation that could damage his confidence or impede his development. And, in a vacuum, there's nothing wrong with that philosophy.

But now, with the ugliness of the Bears' two road losses and with evidence mounting to show Glennon is overmatched, sticking with Plan A may open the door to dangerous dysfunction.

Pace and Fox don't need to say eye to eye on every detail within the quarterback discussion. But they can't afford to lose their locker room. And another loss like Thursday's creates the risk of a full blown mutiny.

Said Fox: "My job is to make sure we field the team that gives us the best chance to win. I think (the players) understand that. And as long as we continue to do that, I've never experienced an issue."

In recent weeks, Fox has insinuated that he doesn't have full say in when Trubisky can or will be turned loose. But there's a growing sense that the coach may want to give the rookie his shot soon. Friday, as Fox bobbed and weaved and successfully dodged most direct questions about his quarterback situation, he was asked how he can gauge Trubisky's readiness to start.

"You don't really know that until you put somebody out there," Fox said. "You would like to have them as ready to take the test as possible. And typically the more you study the better you get."

That's an assessment open to interpretation, at least until the Bears return to practice Tuesday. But Trubisky best start cramming. With the Bears seemingly unraveling yet again, they need to find hope somewhere. And it soon may be the rookie's ability to take his NFL test that sets the franchise's direction. For better or for worse.

dwiederer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @danwiederer