Matt Nagy was hired to pull the Chicago Bears away from the John Fox era. Hopefully towards a brighter future that involves winning. Something would have to be done different. Thus far aside from changing schemes and a few minor tweaks to team operation, the new head coach hasn’t really distinguished himself as different from his predecessor.
Until now that is.
One of the longstanding traditions of preseason football in the NFL is that the starters tend to play the most in the third game. That meant the Bears would be doing so against Kansas City on Saturday at Soldier Field. It’s called the “dress rehearsal” for the regular season. It would appear Nagy is not willing to follow that tradition any longer.
He made his first bold and controversial declaration when he announced to the team and to the media that most of the Bears starters would not suit up for the game. That includes quarterback Mitch Trubisky
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
After their best week of practices so far in 2018, Matt Nagy met with the team today to inform them most starters, including Mitchell Trubisky, will not play in #KCvsCHI. Coach Nagy and his staff had planned for this all week, giving starters on both sides of the ball extra reps.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 25, 2018
Matt Nagy has common sense and league rules on his side
So the big question here is why? Nagy knows his offense is in the midst of being installed. His players, Trubisky especially, need every rep possible to master it in time for the regular season. The simple answer? Health. Look around the league and players are dropping like flies to injuries this preseason. While it’s no different than last year, it means a lot to the Bears in particular.
No team has been burned harder by injuries the past three years than them. Look no further than last year. The third preseason game. Everything is going great. The team looked sharp. Then wide receiver Cameron Meredith, who seemed poised for a big year, gets hit low by a Tennessee Titans safety and blows out his knee.
Look away if your squeamish…Cameron Meredith is down with a left knee injury pic.twitter.com/sbdppDH6XW
— Run Pass Opinion (@RPOpod) August 27, 2017
The Bears passing game completely fell apart without Meredith. The last thing Nagy wants is to see something like that happen again. This team has endured a lot of losing and bad health is a major reason why. If that means sacrificing some extra reps in some meaningless preseason games? Then so be it.
He wants every starter he can possibly muster for Sunday night in Green Bay next month. That’s his focus. Maybe playing some snaps against Kansas City might get his players a bit sharper, but he could never forgive himself if he lost somebody crucial by taking that risk. Nagy stated he gave the starters extra reps in practice over the past week to compensate for this upcoming decision.
There’s also been the added benefit of a league rule that allows teams with a new coaching staff an extra week of practice. All of these factors, along with the injuries to Adam Shaheen and Leonard Floyd, no doubt played into the decision.
