Matt Nagy on Anthony Miller flag: ‘Don’t spin the football or get better’ at it

Bears coach Matt Nagy thinks he knows why rookie receiver Anthony Miller was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for spinning the ball on the ground after catching a third-down pass in the fourth quarter Sunday.

An official told Nagy the ball caromed toward the feet of a Lions’ defender, which amounted to taunting.

“When you slow-motion and look at it, when he spun it, he spun it straight down — and it bounced off his knee and went to the opponent,” Nagy said Monday.

With a smile, Nagy said that, like an earlier penalty Miller received for batting the ball forward and out of bounds on an onside kick, the unsportsmanlike conduct flag was a teaching moment.

“You teach him the ‘why,’” he said. “You teach him, ‘Hey listen, this is what can happen, just don’t spin the football or get better at doing it.’”