What’s New

Speaking of time to throw (or a lack thereof), Foles is acutely aware of how much duress he is under, and based on what he told the MNF crew, he and his head coach may not be on the same page.

In the fourth quarter, former Bears quarterback Brian Griese disclosed a conversation he had with Foles prior to the game, likely during one of their production meetings. Griese said: “We were talking to Nick Foles yesterday, [and] he said, ‘You know, sometimes play calls come in and I know that I don’t have time to execute that play call. You know, I’m the one out here getting hit. Sometimes the guy calling the plays, Matt Nagy, he doesn’t know how much time there is back here.'”

That’s a big yikes. During his postgame Zoom call, Foles tried to downplay the comments, claiming they were misconstrued, but they seem pretty crystal clear to me.

Matt Nagy once famously said he wants a quarterback who knows the offense better than he does. Well, as they often say, be careful what you wish for. Matt now appears to have that in Foles, who, unlike Trubisky, has the experience and panache to challenge Nagy. And challenge him he has.

It is time for some self-reflection on the part of Matt Nagy. If he was truly unaware of Foles’ thoughts on this matter, as he said during his post-game Zoom call, then perhaps he does not have as good of a feel for this team as he has led on.

The Bears have two very difficult games coming up, and if the quarterback and head coach don’t get on the same page quickly, the wheels could come off the bus in a hurry. We’ll see what kind of coach Nagy is, as we evaluate whether he should continue to serve in that role after 2020.

However, after serving in that role for the last four games, it is abundantly clear he can no longer return punts. In fact, after his performance last night, you have to wonder whether he should continue to take up a roster spot.

Ginn looked completely disinterested during all five “attempts” at returning Johnny Hekker‘s punts. I placed the word ‘attempts’ in quotation marks because I’m not sure you could even call what he did an ‘attempt.’

There is an old adage that you should never fair catch a punt inside the 10-yard line. But there were at least two instances last night where the Rams had players downfield waiting, the ball landed beyond the 10-yard line, Ginn was within feet of the football, and just casually walked away.

He appeared so disinterested in doing his job that you almost wonder if he was trying to send a message that he was unhappy with his role on the team. If he was trying to send a message, the return message should be clear — your services are no longer needed on this team.

The Bears recently brought in Dwayne Harris for a visit, who has experience returning punts. If healthy, he should instantly replace Ginn on this team and be the punt returner going forward. This team is about to go through a very difficult stretch in its schedule where it could face even more adversity. It doesn’t need defeatist attitudes on the roster.