Matt Nagy mum about passer, play-caller for fear of ... the winless Lions?

Bears coach Matt Nagy walked into the news-conference room at Halas Hall on Wednesday, sat down and began building his bunker.

SHARE Matt Nagy mum about passer, play-caller for fear of ... the winless Lions?
Bears coach Matt Nagy talks to quarterback Andy Dalton in Week 2.

Bears coach Matt Nagy talks to quarterback Andy Dalton in Week 2.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Coach Matt Nagy walked into the news-conference room Wednesday at Halas Hall, sat down and began building his bunker.  

The man who said Monday he was considering ceding play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor refused to say whether he decided to do just that. With the tempo of an over-caffeinated squirrel, Nagy needed two minutes and 37 seconds’ worth of word salad to not answer the question.

Asked why he was straightforward last year when he handed the reins to Lazor but wasn’t doing the same this time, he took another minute and nine seconds to say that things change from year to year and the Bears’ focus was, amazingly, about “clear communication on the ‘why.’ ”

On Wednesday, “clear communication on the why” looked like this: Nagy called Andy Dalton the first-string quarterback and Justin Fields the backup but then said the “starter will be sorted out once we have a clearer picture moving forward.” He offered no detail on their knee and wrist injuries, respectively. 

He said he would similarly let the NFL-mandated injury report speak about issues with edge rusher Khalil Mack, the Bears’ highest-paid player; nose tackle and mystery man Eddie Goldman, who sat out all last season with coronavirus concerns and has now missed three games; and safety Tashaun Gipson, who missed the 26-6 disaster against the Browns. 

“I hope y’all can understand from our perspective, from the Chicago Bears’ perspective, not just play-calling but whether it’s the starter, non-starter, this guy’s hurt, that guy’s hurt, through the [injury report] rules, all of that,’’ he said. “There’s communication you have on the back end, but then there’s also the ability for us to understand why we don’t get into some of the answers that you’re asking right now.”

The only explanation is that Nagy must believe the Bears need every edge they can have against the Lions on Sunday at Soldier Field. The 0-3 Lions. Whom Nagy has beaten five times in six tries. Whom Mitch Trubisky repeatedly carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Whose starting quarterback, Jared Goff, has a 59.7 career passer rating against the Bears.

This is how low the Bears’ season has sunk in only three weeks: Nagy is circling the wagons for a home game against the lowly Lions three days into October. He has to know the stakes — and fear the repercussions — of a loss Sunday. He spoke as though he did. 

Beat the Lions, and the Bears are .500 and no worse than second place in their division. Lose, and questions about Nagy’s fitness to coach the offense — and to develop Fields — will be louder than ever on the heels of gaining 47 yards in 42 plays against the Browns.  

Nagy is already the NFL favorite to be the first coach fired, according to BetOnline, at 1:2 odds. The McCaskeys have never fired a coach midseason and are undoubtedly consumed with the Arlington Heights stadium project announced Wednesday. Still, if Nagy loses Sunday, he at least has to worry about whether his Halas Hall key card will work the next day. 

The pressure is mounting. Nagy — who prides himself as a play-caller but just posted one of the worst offensive games in franchise history — undoubtedly feels it. 

He vowed Monday to fix the Bears. On Wednesday, he wouldn’t tell you specifically what, if anything, he changed this week.

The Lions await.

“Now we get an opportunity to do it against a division opponent — that we’ve been focusing on the last two days — at home,” Nagy said. “And these are big now. We’ve got to get these. And so when we do that — whatever it is — let’s go do it.”

Whatever it is, indeed.

CST form logo
Halas Intrigue Bears Report
Expert analysis and reporting before and after every Bears game, from the journalists who cover the Monsters of the Midway best.

By subscribing, you agree with Revue’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”