John Fox has reportedly 'accepted his fate,' basically telling people he'll be fired

The Chicago Bears coach is probably not going to survive 2017

The Chicago Bears are not having a good season in 2017, struggling on both sides of the ball. They've had at least one pretty surprising upset, beating Carolina at home, and kept it close against the Steelers and Falcons. But they're just undermanned, particularly on offense. It would not be surprising to see John Fox fired.

So unsurprising, in fact, that even John Fox apparently knows he is probably being fired. 

According to a report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Fox has "accepted his fate" -- the "tone and what he's been saying" to various people essentially serves as an admission that he believes he is likely to be fired after the 2017 concludes. 

None of this should be a huge surprise. Fox came into the season on the hot seat and was pretty hamstrung by his general manager, Ryan Pace, who used the No. 2 pick on North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky after the Bears traded up one spot in the draft. That's not to say Trubisky isn't good -- he's shown clear flashes of being a franchise quarterback -- but using a high pick on a guy who was expected to sit for the season doesn't help a coach on a short leash, especially when they already signed Mike Glennon to a big contract in free agency.

And there was the matter of Pace reportedly not even telling Fox that he was going to take the rookie quarterback.

The writing was on the wall before the season started when it came to Fox, with big injuries to important players (Cameron Meredith, the team's top wideout, tore his ACL before the year began) and questionable game management (Fox challenged a play against the Packers that actually gave Green Bay the ball). 

Chicago hasn't been a real contender in the NFC North this year and Fox has not been an inspiring figure as the coach. He knows he's going to get canned once the season ends and he's basically telling people as much. 

The Bears are going to be one of many teams in a potentially crowded market for head coaches and Fox is going to be at an interesting crossroads in the career of a guy who has been the head coach of three different NFL teams.