CHICAGO -- A day after refusing to “continue down the road we were going down … and potentially ending up in a worse place, long term” with Willson Contreras as their catcher, the Cardinals worked to try and rebuild their relationship and trust with the three-time All-Star, who returned on Monday to the place he’s had the most professional success.

Manager Oliver Marmol organized pre- and postgame meetings on Sunday where veteran players such as Adam Wainwright and Jack Flaherty could remind the 30-year-old Contreras that he is still a big part of their future -- both as a heart-of-the-order hitter and as the team’s primary catcher in the not-so-distant future. Still, the fact remains that the Cardinals were concerned enough about Contreras' lack of connection with the struggling pitching staff that they decided to shift him away from catching for an open-ended amount of time.

“You had a choice to continue down the road we were going down, and I honestly feel like we could have potentially ended up in a worse situation -- long term -- than what we’re experiencing today,” Marmol said prior to the Cardinals facing the Cubs on Monday at Wrigley Field. “This is just noise; this goes away.

“This looks reactive … but I actually think it’s proactive,” Marmol added.

Over the weekend, the Cardinals announced that Contreras -- the free-agent catcher they targeted to replace Yadier Molina and eventually rewarded with an $87.5 million contract to lure him away from the rival Cubs -- would be playing exclusively at DH for the time being while reserve Andrew Knizner handles the catching duties. Hoping to show Contreras that he isn’t to blame for an 11-24 start that already has the Cardinals as far back from first in the division as they have been since the end of the 1997 season, veteran members of the squad rallied around the 30-year-old catcher/DH.

“What we did was we sat down yesterday and just poured into him,” said Wainwright, who returned on Saturday after missing five weeks with a groin strain. “We love this guy. We're glad he's here and we want him to be our guy. I think he took it well. Honestly, I don't know if anyone's ever told him that. But he's appreciated, we love him and we're glad he's here.”

The timing of the position change was, at best, awkward with Contreras returning to Chicago on Monday to face the team he starred with for seven seasons. In addition to being a three-time All-Star during his time in Chicago, he helped the Cubs win the World Series in 2016.

Contreras, who entered the series hitting .265 with two homers, nine doubles and 14 RBIs, was in the Cardinals' lineup on Monday as the DH. Admittedly, he was nervous about how he might be greeted by Cubs fans now that he is on the other side of the rivalry.

“There’s a good chance [that he will be booed], but hopefully it will be 50/50 -- 50 percent will cheer me, and 50 percent will boo me, which is acceptable,” Contreras said. “I’m not going to ever be mad with the fanbase in Chicago because I will always be thankful to them. They always supported me. But there’s a chance, yes, [that he will be booed].”

In addition to Wainwright, Marmol and others with the Cardinals showing their support in recent days, Contreras said he was flattered to have received an outpouring of positive messages from Cardinals fans via social media.

“The support that I’ve gotten from them since Day One has been really special,” he said. “Today, I’ve been getting [direct messages] and messages that I never thought I’d get. Those are really special to me, and I’m really thankful to those fans and to be playing in front of one of the best fan bases in baseball.”

While refusing to go into specifics about the areas Contreras needs to improve upon before returning to regular catching duties, Marmol did say the addition of the pitch timer and pitchers such as Miles Mikolas, Giovanny Gallegos and Wainwright missing time in Spring Training because of the World Baseball Classic have been factors in making Contreras' transition with the Cardinals more difficult. However, he feels the organization and catcher came closer together following Sunday’s series of meetings.

“The conversations that were taking place behind closed doors with a meaningful group is going to push this thing along,” Marmol said. “It couldn’t have been scripted any better than what took place yesterday.”

David Ross, Contreras’ manager with the Cubs and a former MLB catcher with seven franchises, said the Cardinals were certain to go through growing pains -- regardless of who their new catcher was -- after having a nine-time Gold Glover such as Molina man the position for 19 seasons.

“Yadi did some special things and you're not going to replace that person,” Ross said. “Going about things differently sometimes doesn't go smoothly. That happens with new managers, new pitchers and with new coaching staff changes. It takes an adjustment period, and I think that goes with everything.”