Bears coach Matt Nagy won't give up play-calling duties amid criticism after rough Rams loss
Despite growing criticism, Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy has no plans to delegate play-calling duties to an assistant anytime soon.
Nagy — whose offense ranks at the bottom of the league in several critical categories and struggled in their rough 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night — doesn’t think that his play-calling is the issue.
“There’s no opposition from me if we feel like that’s what the issue is, and so we look at that,” Nagy said, via the Chicago Tribune. “Right now, where we’re at, that’s not where we think it’s at. But at the same point in time, I’ll always continue each week to look at it.
“I’ll say this, too. When you’re in a little bit of a rut like we are — a lot of bit of a rut like we are right now — you have to look at everything. And sometimes even if it’s just a little bit of a change somewhere, too, you have to be able to do that.
“No one here, coach and or player, has too big of an ego to think that it’s not them as a player or a coach. We talk through those kinds of decisions. We’ll just keep evaluating and rolling and seeing where we’re at.”
While they boast a 5-2 record, the Bears offense was far from good on Monday night.
Quarterback Nick Foles went 28 of 40 for 261 passing yards and threw two interceptions in the loss, and frequently struggled to get a drive moving. Their only touchdown of the night came when safety Eddie Jackson recovered a fumble and ran it into the end zone.
A comment from ESPN’s Brian Griese during that game — which was later described as a “miscommunication” — made it seem as if even Foles was growing frustrated with Nagy’s play-calling. Griese said during the game that Foles had told him that sometimes “play calls come in and I know that I don’t have time to execute that play call.”
While both Foles and Nagy insisted later that their relationship is fine and that wasn’t what Foles meant, there were several examples in the game that raised questions about Nagy’s play-calling ability. Two plays Nagy called on fourth down simply didn’t have time to develop, which backed up what Griese said.
Nagy won’t bench Foles for Trubisky
The Bears offense currently is averaging just 19.7 points per game, the fifth-worst in the NFL, and 30th in both yards per play, yards per run and with their third-down conversion rate.
Despite their mediocre performance, Nagy won’t flip back to Mitchell Trubisky.
Trubisky — who the Bears moved up to take with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft — started out the season but was benched in Week 3. He recorded 560 yards and six touchdowns while throwing three interceptions and completing less than 60 percent of his passes.
“We have a lot of confidence and I have a lot of confidence in Nick right now with where he’s at,” Nagy said, via the Chicago Tribune. “Again, this is a process for us to work though, and it’s not just one person. And I know from yesterday, decision-making-wise and where he’s at, I thought he did a good job. I thought he made some good throws. He missed a couple as well, but again, it’s a team sport, so there’s some other reasons for that as well. Just keep rolling through that and working through it.”
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