Matt Nagy: Kicker Parkey’s struggles ‘nudged’ me toward 2-point conversion tries

SHARE Matt Nagy: Kicker Parkey’s struggles ‘nudged’ me toward 2-point conversion tries
vikings_bears_football_80185512_e1544803728814.jpg

Bears head coach Matt Nagy. | Nam Y. Huh/AP photo

If you put every NFL coach in a room and asked them whether they rather would kick an extra point or go for a two-point conversion, Bears coach Matt Nagy said Monday he’d vote for the latter.

‘‘If you’re an aggressive person and you like going for two or you feel good about the plays that you have in there, then why not?’’ he said.

Of course, Nagy doesn’t live in a vacuum. He admitted his decision to go for two twice Sunday against the Vikings — when the Bears had tried only one such play all season — was in part the result of kicker Cody Parkey’s struggles. Parkey hit the upright on two field goals and two extra points the week before against the Lions.

Nagy said Parkey’s failed extra points ‘‘might have nudged’’ him toward the more aggressive strategy. The Bears must succeed on two out of every three two-point conversions to make the strategy worth it, he said. They went 2-for-2 on Sunday, completing passes to receiver Josh Bellamy and tight end Adam Shaheen.

After spending the week building up Parkey’s confidence, Nagy said he discussed his plan with him beforehand.

‘‘You’re honest with him,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘You tell him what the plan is. He completely understands it.’’

RELATED

Bears QB Mitch Trubisky injured his right shoulder vs. Vikings

• Film Study: Five takeaways from the Bears’ 25-20 victory vs. the Vikings

Speaking at a turkey giveaway in Gurnee, Parkey told the Sun-Times he knew the two-point tries were coming.

‘‘Coach told me about it earlier in the week,’’ said Parkey, who made all three of his field-goal tries against the Vikings. ‘‘At the end of the day, two points is better than one.’’

Nagy: Smith injury ‘crushed me’

Nagy was sitting in his hotel room, working on his play-call sheet, when Redskins quarterback Alex Smith broke both major bones in his lower right leg Sunday.

‘‘It crushed me; it absolutely crushed me,’’ said Nagy, who coached Smith with the Chiefs in 2013-17. ‘‘There aren’t a lot of people in this profession that work like Alex, that treat the game like Alex, that do things the right way. He’ll bounce back and come back better and stronger, but right now it’s tough.”

Former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann infamously broke his leg 33 years ago to the day. That game that featured the same final score — 23-21 — as the Redskins’ loss Sunday to the Texans, a fact Nagy called ‘‘just so weird.’’

Injury report

Shaheen and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch remain in the NFL’s concussion protocol after getting hurt Sunday. Shaheen caught his first pass this season a day after being taken off injured reserve.

With a game against the Lions looming Thursday, the Bears released a theoretical injury report Monday, according to NFL protocol.

The Latest
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.
The way inflation is measured masks certain costs that add to the prices that consumers pay every day. Not surprisingly, higher costs mean lower consumer confidence, no matter what Americans are told about an improving economy.
With Easter around the corner, chocolate makers and food businesses are feeling the impact of soaring global cocoa prices and it’s also hitting consumers.