LAKE FOREST PARK, Ill. — In keeping with the inconsistent theme to their season, the Chicago Bears head into a road week at the New England Patriots struggling with a new low following Sunday’s 27-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Except this time it goes beyond what happened on the field.

Just a week after an encouraging, solid win at Atlanta, the frustration seems to be boiling over as angry shouts could be heard within the Chicago locker room after the loss to Miami. One of those was attributed to wide receiver Brandon Marshall and some reports claimed Marshall was even at odds with his friend, quarterback Jay Cutler, following a key interception and a lost fumble on a sack that led to points the Dolphins needed in the second half.

Bears coach Marc Trestman sought to silence the talk by pointing out the locker room situation was nothing different than what he’s always experienced.

“I think what people get caught up in is the emotions that happen after a game,” he said on Monday. “In 20 years of NFL locker rooms, what goes on in a locker room after a game a lot of things can go on because people handle winning and losing differently.”

Marshall after the game wouldn’t deny there was yelling, but suggested then that the hollering was more a sign of players caring.

“We could be anywhere else, anywhere else,” he said. “I’m not going to name any other ball clubs, but this is a special organization. This is a special city. You’ve got to love what you do. You’ve got to love playing for this ball club. You’ve got to leave it all on the field.

“We’ve got a great group of guys. It’s the tightest locker room I’ve ever been a part of. Tightest, tightest, tightest. We’re 3-4 and it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable. 3-4 is unacceptable. Want me to say it again? 3-4 is unacceptable. … We’re halfway through the season. We’re halfway through the season. It’s time. It’s time.”

While the entire situation seemed to indicate a team splitting apart to some, the Bears claim this is far from the case. And Marshall also claimed he wasn’t at odds with his quarterback.

“My confidence is there,” Marshall said. “Alshon Jeffery’s confidence is there. Martellus Bennett’s confidence is there. Yeah, it’s there.

“Jay’s a gunslinger. Jay’s our guy. Jay’s our leader. Listen, we have to do a better job. This is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable. Unacceptable.”

The entire situation led some to question Trestman’s ability to keep a firm hand on the situation. He dismissed this as quickly as he had the idea that the team was breaking apart.

“I think we handle things, win or lose, essentially the same, and that’s the way I handled things up north (in Canada) as well, is that I try to be as honest and direct with the players as I can, firm when I have to be firm, but honest and straightforward with everybody in the room and where we are in the room.”

Fans even took the brunt of some of the Bears’ postgame emotional outburst. Second-year guard Kyle Long blasted fans for not being noisy enough on third downs with the Bears defense on the field.

He was upset over fans booing the home team before halftime and at other times.

“I don’t know if upset is the word that I would use, but as somebody who is blood, sweat, and tears as are the other guys in this locker room and the coaches, the trainers, this staff, the equipment guys, to be getting booed at

home when you’re walking off the field down two possessions is unacceptable — especially when there’s not a lot of noise being made on third down,” he said, then for emphasis added, “Period.”

With so many veterans leaving the team in recent years, and players like Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs injured, the question persists about whether the Bears have the leadership to handle such a volatile situation in their locker room.

Team captains are usually responsible with providing leadership in tough situations, but the Bears under Trestman have a revolving captain situation. The captains are named from game to game rather than for an entire season at the beginning of the year.

“We’re not here to build a leadership team,” Trestman said. “We’re here to build a team of leaders. Everybody can lead in their own way; that can be verbally, non-verbally, through their demeanor, through their actions, how they act during the course of a day.”

REPORT CARD VS. DOLPHINS

PASSING OFFENSE: F — Forced to try to throw short and be patient, Jay Cutler failed again. A deep ball on third-and-one went long the first series, and the Bears seemed to find no rhythm in the passing game afterward. Cutler was impatient in the pocket and even the Dolphins afterward were pointing out he eye-balled his receivers before throwing to them. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall did even more damage after the game by ranting in the locker room. This was 180 degrees different from the previous week’s effort.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D-plus — The running game wasn’t given much chance to operate by the coaching staff, and when it did there were a few holes, but nothing consistent. Matt Forte averaged 3.7 yards a carry. The killer rushing play was a lateral in the first quarter to Ka’Deem Carey. The play went for a 10-yard loss but it wasn’t Carey’s fault as much as Cutler’s for throwing an errant backward pass that Carey had to pounce on. The loss killed a drive and left an opening for Dolphins to seize control.

PASS DEFENSE: D — If not for Jeremiah Ratliff’s 3.5 sacks this would have been nearly the disaster the passing offense was. When Ryan Tannehill can complete 14 consecutive passes to start the game, someone either isn’t providing proper coverage or calling the right schemes. Losing cornerback Kyle Fuller to a hip injury didn’t help, either.

RUSH DEFENSE: D — A solid overall effort against the running backs, but Tannehill burned D-end Lamarr Houston for a huge 30-yard fourth-and-1 read-option run at a time when the Bears had a chance to get back into the game. An inability to stop Miami’s short-yardage running game helped lead to a 37 1/2-22 1/2 difference in time of possession.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — They finally broke a kick return with a 50-yarder by Chris Williams once the outcome was decided. They also had a 25-yarder — big by this year’s standards. Coverage teams got beat only once on a 12-yard punt return and Pat O’Donnell continues to have a big year with a 53-yard average on three punts.

COACHING: F – Marc Trestman talked about how great it was during the previous week to get the full offensive line back together for the first time since Week 1, then called only about half a dozen running plays in the first half and they audibled out of two of those. Ten of Forte’s 12 runs came on the two Bears touchdown drives. But they gave him only two more runs the rest of the game.

The run could have helped slow Miami’s pass rush, which clearly bothered Cutler. Sticking to the run more could have helped get the offensive line back into attack mode faster considering they hadn’t played together in weeks. Trestman also took three timeouts into the locker room at halftime for some reason when they had the chance for a late drive.

Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker’s game plan was sound — the problem was he wasted no time sticking Shea McClellin back onto the field after the linebacker crew of three reserves had looked so impressive the previous week against Atlanta. McClellin struggled defending the pass or trying to stop the read-option. With GM Phil Emery wanting to see McClellin on the field as much as possible to keep from having egg on his face for this draft pick, however, it’s tough to blame Tucker for this decision.