Matt Nagy: Flag on Jaylon Johnson was a ‘close one’

Bears coach Matt Nagy was diplomatic Monday when asked about the 33-yard pass interference flag on cornerback Jaylon Johnson that gave the Panthers the ball at the 1 early in the fourth quarter during Sunday’s 23-16 win.

Johnson, the rookie from Utah, and receiver D.J. Moore got their arms locked up down the left sideline.

“I thought, again, it’s a close one,” Nagy said. “They have a tough decision, the refs do. It’s hard, it’s not easy. What I always try to do is I try to flip it so, ‘OK, if I was coaching on the other side, what would I think?’ When you do that, it makes it a lot easier. It’s part of the game.”

Nagy — who didn’t understand the personal foul called on cornerback Kyle Fuller for his bone-jarring hit, either — called Sunday “one of those games” where “it felt like we had a few things that went against us, not intentionally or anything like that.”

The Panthers scored on the next play but could get no closer.