Brad Biggs: As report of Matt Nagy’s imminent firing swirls, Bears leave their coach to fend for himself. Whether it’s after Thursday’s game or before Week 17, the end seems near.
Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — According to popular lore, when the American humorist Mark Twain was asked about rumors that he was gravely ill, he replied, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
The quote itself is somewhat exaggerated, but the gist remains the same.
Matt Nagy didn’t go quite that far Tuesday afternoon, but he did use the word “inaccurate” to describe a report that the Chicago Bears have informed him they will fire him after Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
The fact the Bears let the Patch.com report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Konkol sit out in the open all morning meant no one felt compelled to rally to Nagy’s defense, whether the report is true or they don’t want to get into the business of commenting on every report that comes along.
It was a weird day at Halas Hall, but that’s the way it goes sometimes when a team is mired in a five-game losing streak that includes blown leads in the final minute of the last two games. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor — who filled in as acting head coach for the Week 8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers while Nagy was out with COVID-19 — wound up being the first team employee to answer questions about Nagy’s tenuous future during his weekly session with reporters.
Tabor backed his boss, and then an hour or so later, Nagy came straight from the practice field — where the Bears held two walk-throughs in preparation for the winless Lions (0-9-1) — and addressed the swirling rumors.
“I have great communication with ownership, with (Chairman) George (McCaskey) and (President) Ted (Phillips) and (general manager) Ryan (Pace), but I have not had any discussions,” Nagy said.
That’s not surprising given the quick turnaround before the Thanksgiving Day game.
“My focus right now is on these players and on Detroit,” Nagy said. “That’s it, and I think that’s my job as a head coach and a leader is to do that. These guys, these players have been amazing. They’ve been great.”
In 1999, the Bears announced the hiring of Dave McGinnis as head coach to replace Dave Wannstedt. The problem was they didn’t have a contract finalized with McGinnis, and he wound up walking away after the fiasco.
Yet even by Bears standards, informing Nagy he has four more days and one more game to coach before firing him would be bizarre.
The Bears (3-7) rank near the bottom of the league in most key offensive categories that do not involve running the ball, and the offense has been stagnant since the second half of 2018, when the Bears won the NFC North with a 12-4 record and Nagy was named NFL Coach of the Year in his first season. The team has lost 15 of its last 21 games, including the playoff exit in January in New Orleans, and it’s becoming impossible for Nagy to say he has shown “progress” — to use the word McCaskey uttered nearly a year ago.
With no McCaskey, Phillips or Pace to clarify their coach’s weakening status, Nagy was left to fend for himself as the noise amplifies. Cary-Grove High School students chanted, “Fire Nagy,” during a playoff game Saturday against Lake Forest, where one of Nagy’s four sons plays. When the Bulls were being blown out by the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at the United Center, the crowd chanted for Nagy to be fired.
It’s the topic engaged and bored sports fans alike are rallying around, and it only got worse after the Bears’ late meltdown to lose to the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Soldier Field. Nagy was responsible for some critical game-management errors and the defense blew it, but all of that is minor in comparison with who ownership wants in charge of developing quarterback Justin Fields.
Jordan Schultz, who hosts a basketball podcast with Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson, reported Monday that an “overwhelming number” of players want Nagy fired. Schultz doesn’t cover the Bears regularly, but there’s no reason to dispute his assertion — and there’s also no reason to overlook his ties to Robinson.
“I haven’t had any input with that,” Robinson said. “Me and him did a basketball podcast. Everything that we had from a podcast standpoint, a relationship standpoint, had been based on covering basketball and talking about basketball.
“You guys know me. Anything that I wanted to get across has come from me, and it’ll always be that way. It’ll never change. Anything I want to get accomplished, I want to say, I’m a grown-ass man. I can get stuff done myself.”
A team source said a “lot of players are pissed off,” even as those who spoke to the media Tuesday attempted to downplay the cloud this creates over the locker room. This is the last thing a team struggling to break out of a deep funk needs to contend with. Any players who have been around for three years or more endured a six-game losing streak last season and four consecutive losses in 2019.
The Bears never have fired a coach in season, but that doesn’t mean McCaskey wouldn’t make that move in the hours, days or weeks to come, especially with the NFL tweaking rules this season to allow teams that fired their coach to seek interviews with candidates in the final two weeks of the regular season.
If McCaskey has made up his mind he’s going to move on from Nagy — and it’s easy to imagine he has arrived at that conclusion — it becomes a matter of when and not if. When could be as soon as the Bears return from Detroit — win, lose or draw — or sometime before Week 17.
To fully take advantage of the early window to meet with head coaching candidates, the Bears need to be confident about their structure above the coach, and that raises questions about Pace’s future.
In the meantime, Nagy remains the face of the franchise — until the reports regarding his fate become final.
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Michael Conroy
How He Got Here: The No. 1 overall pick out of Clemson was immediately deemed the face and savior of the franchise.
How He's Doing: Lawrence has thrown for 873 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 57% of his passes for the 0-4 Jaguars. He had his most efficient game last week in a 24-17 loss at Cincinnati, going 17 of 24 for 204 yards. He had no touchdown throws, but ran for a score and also had his first interception-free performance.
What They're Saying: "You can look around and I'll take our guy any day in the rookie quarterbacks and how they're doing," Bevell said. "Trevor's progression has been great. He's doing a great job. He works his tail off. I think his communication with the players on the team and the guys in the offense, communication during the game, all those things he's just really doing a nice job with it and his play's getting better and better."
Michael Conroy
How He Got Here: The No. 1 overall pick out of Clemson was immediately deemed the face and savior of the franchise.
How He's Doing: Lawrence has thrown for 873 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 57% of his passes for the 0-4 Jaguars. He had his most efficient game last week in a 24-17 loss at Cincinnati, going 17 of 24 for 204 yards. He had no touchdown throws, but ran for a score and also had his first interception-free performance.
What They're Saying: "You can look around and I'll take our guy any day in the rookie quarterbacks and how they're doing," Bevell said. "Trevor's progression has been great. He's doing a great job. He works his tail off. I think his communication with the players on the team and the guys in the offense, communication during the game, all those things he's just really doing a nice job with it and his play's getting better and better."
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Seth Wenig
How He Got Here: The Jets zeroed in on him with the No. 2 overall pick early in the pre-draft process, enthralled by his arm strength and ability to make plays on the run and from multiple arm angles.
How He's Doing: The former BYU star had a solid debut with two TD passes and an INT, followed by a miserable performance against New England (no TDs, four INTs, 37.0 quarterback rating) and a lousy game at Denver (no TDs, two more INTs and a season-low 54.3 completion percentage). Wilson, sacked 15 times in three games, bounced back with his best game, going 21 of 34 for 297 yards — including passes of 54 and 53 yards — and two TDs with one INT and one sack in the Jets' first win of the season, 27-24 in OT over Tennessee.
What They're Saying: "What he's still adjusting to is just when it goes a little bit off schedule and the pocket collapses and he has to go, just with how fast NFL defenses and defenders move, what he can get away with and what he can't," offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. "And that's been something that he's been working through since, really, rookie minicamp."
Seth Wenig
How He Got Here: The Jets zeroed in on him with the No. 2 overall pick early in the pre-draft process, enthralled by his arm strength and ability to make plays on the run and from multiple arm angles.
How He's Doing: The former BYU star had a solid debut with two TD passes and an INT, followed by a miserable performance against New England (no TDs, four INTs, 37.0 quarterback rating) and a lousy game at Denver (no TDs, two more INTs and a season-low 54.3 completion percentage). Wilson, sacked 15 times in three games, bounced back with his best game, going 21 of 34 for 297 yards — including passes of 54 and 53 yards — and two TDs with one INT and one sack in the Jets' first win of the season, 27-24 in OT over Tennessee.
What They're Saying: "What he's still adjusting to is just when it goes a little bit off schedule and the pocket collapses and he has to go, just with how fast NFL defenses and defenders move, what he can get away with and what he can't," offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. "And that's been something that he's been working through since, really, rookie minicamp."
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Tony Avelar
How He Got Here: The 49ers traded up and took Lance out of North Dakota State when many assumed they were going to take Jones. He began the season as the backup to Jimmy Garoppolo.
How He's Doing: Lance played just seven snaps through the first three games, throwing a TD pass and running for another score. He got his most extensive action last week when Garoppolo left at halftime with a right calf injury. Lance struggled with his accuracy, but finished 9 of 18 for 157 yards, two touchdowns, a 2-point conversion run and 41 yards rushing. He'll start Sunday for 2-2 San Francisco against Arizona.
What They're Saying: "He'll see some things out there that he's never seen before," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "But what you like about him and stuff that he might not be ready for, he can overcompensate with some of his athletic ability and, to me, how competitive he is and how good of a football player he is."
Tony Avelar
How He Got Here: The 49ers traded up and took Lance out of North Dakota State when many assumed they were going to take Jones. He began the season as the backup to Jimmy Garoppolo.
How He's Doing: Lance played just seven snaps through the first three games, throwing a TD pass and running for another score. He got his most extensive action last week when Garoppolo left at halftime with a right calf injury. Lance struggled with his accuracy, but finished 9 of 18 for 157 yards, two touchdowns, a 2-point conversion run and 41 yards rushing. He'll start Sunday for 2-2 San Francisco against Arizona.
What They're Saying: "He'll see some things out there that he's never seen before," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "But what you like about him and stuff that he might not be ready for, he can overcompensate with some of his athletic ability and, to me, how competitive he is and how good of a football player he is."
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Nam Y. Huh
How He Got Here: The No. 11 overall pick out of Ohio State entered the season as the backup to Andy Dalton, despite many Bears fans clamoring to see the rookie right away.
How He's Doing: Fields threw two passes and ran for a score in the opener in spot duty. He replaced an injured Dalton the next week against Cincinnati, then started the next two games with Dalton sidelined. Fields is still looking for his first TD pass and has to improve on his 48.1 completion percentage, but coach Matt Nagy committed this week to him starting moving forward for the 2-2 Bears.
What They're Saying: "The stage for him never gets too big," Nagy said. "He has been in this position before. I think when you have somebody like that who understands how he has gotten to this point and knows that he's worked hard to get to this point, that he's ready for this opportunity."
Nam Y. Huh
How He Got Here: The No. 11 overall pick out of Ohio State entered the season as the backup to Andy Dalton, despite many Bears fans clamoring to see the rookie right away.
How He's Doing: Fields threw two passes and ran for a score in the opener in spot duty. He replaced an injured Dalton the next week against Cincinnati, then started the next two games with Dalton sidelined. Fields is still looking for his first TD pass and has to improve on his 48.1 completion percentage, but coach Matt Nagy committed this week to him starting moving forward for the 2-2 Bears.
What They're Saying: "The stage for him never gets too big," Nagy said. "He has been in this position before. I think when you have somebody like that who understands how he has gotten to this point and knows that he's worked hard to get to this point, that he's ready for this opportunity."
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Elise Amendola
How He Got Here: The Patriots took Jones out of Alabama at No. 15 overall, making him the first quarterback drafted in the opening round by New England since Bledsoe in 1993. He beat out Cam Newton in training camp and became the first rookie QB to start Week 1 for the Patriots, also since Bledsoe.
How He's Doing: Jones' numbers aren't eye popping for the 1-3 Patriots with four TDs and four INTs, but he has been extremely efficient while completing 70% of his passes in what has been a mostly short-passing game offense. He threw for 275 yards and had 19 consecutive completions — the most for an NFL rookie since 1991, and tying the franchise record set by Brady in 2015 — last week in a 19-17 loss to Brady and Tampa Bay.
What They're Saying: "He's certainly responded to anything we've asked him to do," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "He's obviously got a great mindset and great attitude about it. There's nothing we've asked him to do that he's shied away from or wanted less responsibility. That's not his nature or personality. I appreciate that in the young man."
Elise Amendola
How He Got Here: The Patriots took Jones out of Alabama at No. 15 overall, making him the first quarterback drafted in the opening round by New England since Bledsoe in 1993. He beat out Cam Newton in training camp and became the first rookie QB to start Week 1 for the Patriots, also since Bledsoe.
How He's Doing: Jones' numbers aren't eye popping for the 1-3 Patriots with four TDs and four INTs, but he has been extremely efficient while completing 70% of his passes in what has been a mostly short-passing game offense. He threw for 275 yards and had 19 consecutive completions — the most for an NFL rookie since 1991, and tying the franchise record set by Brady in 2015 — last week in a 19-17 loss to Brady and Tampa Bay.
What They're Saying: "He's certainly responded to anything we've asked him to do," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "He's obviously got a great mindset and great attitude about it. There's nothing we've asked him to do that he's shied away from or wanted less responsibility. That's not his nature or personality. I appreciate that in the young man."
QB Lamar Jackson dazzles as Ravens erase 16-point deficit to stun Colts in overtime, 31-25
Adrian Kraus
How He Got Here: The former Stanford star was drafted in the third round and wasn't expected to be much more than a backup this season — and maybe beyond. But with a hamstring injury to Tyrod Taylor and the Texans sitting Deshaun Watson during a contract dispute and legal troubles, Mills is the man under center for now.
How He's Doing: Well, he's struggling. He has thrown for 357 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in his 2 1/2 games. He tied a franchise record with four INTs last week against Buffalo and his 23.4 quarterback rating is the worst of any starter this season. He'll likely return to the sideline for the 0-4 Texans as soon as Taylor's healthy.
What They're Saying: "Ball security, understanding that your job is to protect the ball and when you go back to pass, an incompletion is OK if the guy is not there, you don't have to make a play," coach David Culley said of what he's looking for from Mills this week. "Again, that's from being inexperienced and being young, but at this point right now moving forward as our quarterback, that's something that he has to get better at quicker and faster."
Adrian Kraus
How He Got Here: The former Stanford star was drafted in the third round and wasn't expected to be much more than a backup this season — and maybe beyond. But with a hamstring injury to Tyrod Taylor and the Texans sitting Deshaun Watson during a contract dispute and legal troubles, Mills is the man under center for now.
How He's Doing: Well, he's struggling. He has thrown for 357 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in his 2 1/2 games. He tied a franchise record with four INTs last week against Buffalo and his 23.4 quarterback rating is the worst of any starter this season. He'll likely return to the sideline for the 0-4 Texans as soon as Taylor's healthy.
What They're Saying: "Ball security, understanding that your job is to protect the ball and when you go back to pass, an incompletion is OK if the guy is not there, you don't have to make a play," coach David Culley said of what he's looking for from Mills this week. "Again, that's from being inexperienced and being young, but at this point right now moving forward as our quarterback, that's something that he has to get better at quicker and faster."
Brad Biggs: As report of Matt Nagy’s imminent firing swirls, Bears leave their coach to fend for himself. Whether it’s after Thursday’s game or before Week 17, the end seems near.
Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy yells at an official in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy yells at an official in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
