If ESPN ‘‘Monday Night Football’’ analyst Brian Griese implied Bears coach Matt Nagy and quarterback Nick Foles had a fracture in their relationship when he relayed production-meeting comments Foles made to him before a game last month against the Rams, he didn’t mean it.
‘‘I think the relationship between Matt Nagy and Nick Foles is a solid one,’’ Griese said in a radio interview Friday with ‘‘Waddle & Silvy’’ show hosts Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman. ‘‘There is no question that they have a great relationship.’’
Griese gave a different impression with what he said during the broadcast of the Bears’ 24-10 loss to the Rams on Oct. 26. It came across to many as a knock on the relationship between Nagy and Foles when Griese said Foles told him in the production meeting that Nagy is calling plays Foles knows he won’t have time to execute.
‘‘We were talking to Nick Foles yesterday, and he said, ‘Sometimes play-calls come in, and I know that I don’t have time to execute that play-call,’ ’’ Griese said that night. ‘‘ ‘And I’m the one out here getting hit, and sometimes the guy calling the plays, Matt Nagy, he doesn’t know how much time there is back here.’ So that’s something that they have to get worked out.’’
After that game, Foles said Griese’s comment was ‘‘definitely a miscommunication’’ of what he said during the production meeting.
Griese didn’t directly address the controversy he inadvertently created in his ‘‘Waddle & Silvy’’ interview. He did indicate his comment was more a criticism of the Bears’ offensive line, which created the time-to-throw issues he was referring to.
‘‘These production meetings, as a player, I’ve been in them,’’ Griese said. ‘‘And now, as an analyst, I’ve been in them hundreds of times. I’ve got to say Matt Nagy and Nick Foles were two of the best interviews that we do all year. And very open and honest. Back when I was playing, I wasn’t that open.
‘‘But I think the dialogue that we were having was around . . . how hard it is to operate an NFL offense with the restriction that you have up front on the offensive line. My job as an analyst, I view it as trying to put the fan at home in the shoes of a quarterback, what it feels like to try to play in those circumstances. And that’s what I was trying to relay on the air.’’
O-line absences
The offensive line remains in flux. Center Cody Whitehair still is on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Backup center Sam Mustipher (knee) and tackle Jason Springs (knee) didn’t practice for the second consecutive day.
Kmet, Montgomery still out
Tight end Cole Kmet (groin), running back David Montgomery (concussion), special-teams ace Sherrick McManis (hand) and quarterback Mitch Trubisky (shoulder) also didn’t practice for the second consecutive day.
