One of the hardest things for a head coach in the NFL is keeping his players motivated throughout a long and grueling training camp. How can he get them to bring their best every single day? Everybody has different methods that work or don’t. For Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears, they appear to have incorporated a little incentive to each practice that seems to have caught the attention of both players and coaches.
Day 2 of padded practices were said to be some of the most high-octane of training camp thus far. A big reason for that was a heated battle between the receivers and tight ends against the defensive backs in passing drills. Even receivers coach Mike Furrey and secondary coach Deshea Townsend were seen trash-talking back and forth.
Why so much emotion? It turns out the two sides were battling for rights to a championship belt. One that goes to whichever side wins the action for that day. Furrey ended up being the one who enjoyed bragging rights after the tight ends dominated most of the morning according to Adam Jahns.
“It was a good day for the Bears’ tight ends. It started with Jimmy Graham (see more on him below), but also included highlights from Kmet, Demetrius Harris, Eric Saubert and Jesper Horsted.
Graham and Kmet, in particular, helped the receivers/tight ends defeat the defensive backs in the competition, which features some verbal sparring from position coaches and players. Receivers coach Mike Furrey celebrated the victory by running off the field to claim their championship belt.”
Chicago Bears are following a popular sports trend
The idea of a championship belt serving as player motivation isn’t new. The Chicago Blackhawks had one of their own that they gave to the MVP of every game they won. Goalie Corey Crawford famously accepted his at the 2013 Stanley Cup rally amidst an expletive-fueled speech. It was glorious. While the belt itself isn’t worth much, it’s the prestige that comes with it.
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Nagy wanted to find a way to get his receiving group playing with more energy. Something that wasn’t there often enough last year. The defensive backs seemed to handle them far too often in practice. By offering this extra incentive, it seems to have had the desired effect. It will be fun to see how the DBs respond on Thursday when practices resume. One can imagine they’ll be fired up.
