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As the Bears try to regroup from back-to-back losses to the Raiders and Saints, two of their star players have declined to share their perspectives on the slump.

Outside linebacker Khalil Mack and inside linebacker Roquan Smith haven’t spoken with the media since the week leading up to the Raiders loss — a span of three weeks that included a scheduled week off.

A Bears spokesman said Friday morning that the team planned to have both players address the media during afternoon locker-room access. But staff members later said Smith left Halas Hall without speaking, and Mack relayed the message through a spokesman that he declined to do his usual Friday interview.

It’s not a surprising development for either player for several reasons — and it’s certainly low on the Bears’ priority list as they try to fix a broken offense and declining defense entering their game against the Chargers on Sunday at Soldier Field.

But it’s noteworthy considering the Bears have been touting the need for leadership in the aftermath of the 36-25 loss to the Saints — the worst of coach Matt Nagy’s tenure. Nagy’s preseason message included an emphasis on no task being too small for any player, regardless of stardom — a theme of the book “Legacy,” which details the success of the New Zealand national rugby team, the All Blacks. The Bears now have a “Sweep the Sheds” award for players who do underappreciated tasks, a nod to the All Blacks players who would clean up after games.

When Mack didn’t speak Sunday after the Saints loss, it put the onus on younger players, such as second-year defensive lineman Bilal Nichols, to explain the team’s struggles. Mack also declined to speak with reporters after losing to his former team Oct. 6 in London.

The silence became even more noteworthy when Nagy was asked Friday about players in general avoiding their media responsibilities, which the league mandates.

“Well, that’s not the choice that we want at all,” Nagy said. “We’ve all talked that, ‘Hey, we all need to understand when things are going really well you’re able to talk about it and when things aren’t going really well you’re able to talk about it.’ That’s only fair to everybody.”

The league policy states, according to the Pro Football Writers of America: “Players must be available to the media following every game and regularly during the practice week as required under league rules and their contracts. … It is not permissible for any player or any group of players to boycott the media.”

Teams are allowed to limit only two players to twice-a-week access, which for the Bears has been Mitch Trubisky and Mack. The league can discipline and fine players who do not comply with their obligations.

Mack’s reputation as a reluctant media participant preceded his arrival in Chicago, which has a much larger contingent of cameras and reporters than covered his former team, the Raiders. He and his coaches have made it known he is more of a lead-by-example player. That extends to not enjoying media attention, though he is often engaging and funny when he does do interviews.

“I don’t like it,” Mack said in December. “It’s just being me, man. … If you get caught up in people saying you’re good and people saying this or that, good or bad, it can kind of wear on you. Or it’ll make you feel like you’re better than what you are.”

Smith has spoken to the media once since he missed the Week 4 win over the Vikings because of a personal issue. He held a media session the Wednesday after, in which he politely but resolutely declined to go into detail about why the Bears held him out of the game.

The players’ silence is compounded because of the Bears’ rough patch. The defense, which last season allowed an NFL-low 17.7 points per game, has given up 60 points over the last two games, both losses that dropped the team to 3-3. Mack didn’t record a sack in either game, and Nagy said this week that Smith can play better than he did in the two losses.

Nagy’s Friday news conference started when the locker room opened to the media, and he answered questions about the subject about 25 minutes before Mack and Smith skipped their planned interviews. But Nagy indicated it would be his job to clear up any expectations about his players’ media responsibilities.

“I don’t know who those particular players are, but my first question would be, are they ones that are the same way when they’re winning or are they changing?” Nagy said. “And then I can talk to them. And that’s part of my job as a leader is to make sure they all understand that. I don’t think any of it is intentional, and none of it is to create a division between any type of media or outsiders with us.”