The view might have been a little fuzzy, but Matt Nagy watched rookie quarterback Justin Fields’ first practice Friday.
Forced to quarantine after being ruled a close contact with a coronavirus-infected family member, Nagy became a face on an iPad screen carried around the field by his assistant, Kyle Childress. Childress often settled in Nagy’s regular spot — 10 yards behind the quarterback on offensive plays.
“t wasn’t quite HD,” Nagy said via Zoom after the Bears’ first rookie minicamp practice. “It was a little blurry. But at the same time, I was able to tell whether it was a good play or not.”
Nagy — who received his first vaccine shot at part of a team event, but is still waiting for his second — hopes to return to practice Sunday. NFL rules dictate that he must quarantine for five days since his last close contact and pass a test on Day 6.
With Nagy away, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor ran practice. Nagy talked to players through the iPad, but tried not to be distracting.
“I was just letting them know just how this is a special day for these guys,” he said. “All these guys worked so hard to be able to put on an NFL jersey and have their first practice and so, sometimes you gotta step back and remind yourself of that.”
Nagy participated in a virtual offensive installation meeting Friday morning; all NFL classroom work done this offseason is being conducted via Zoom.
“I do think it’s a really good reminder to all of us that the virus is obviously still very real,” said Nagy, who thanked Bears medical staffers for helping to care for his family. “And hopefully more and more of us will continue to go out and get our vaccines.”
