Chicago Bears (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)
Should Chicago Bears fans be concerned that their general manager and head coach aren’t on the same page?
Following the 2019 regular season, the Chicago Bears held their end of the year press conference, and it appeared there was at least a slight disagreement over Ryan Pace’s and Matt Nagy’s assessment of the season. That disconnect seems to have grown slightly in the two months since that press conference, as evidenced by some of the comments made this week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
During that first press conference, Pace conceded his hand-picked franchise quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky, needs to play better. However, he was reluctant to specifically outline what he needed to do better. Instead, he spoke generally about needing everyone else around Mitch to play better — almost ignoring the idea that a franchise quarterback should elevate the play of those around him — but I digress.
Nagy, on the other hand, was a little more transparent. He noted that Mitch must become a “master at reading coverages” and even cited a few plays in the season to underscore his point. The natural implication of such statements, is, of course, that he was not great at processing the information he was seeing both pre and post-snap.
However, it was not until both Pace and Nagy spoke this week at the Combine, that the disconnect between the two on this issue became so apparent.
Pace was first to speak and was asked what he believed were some of Trubisky’s strengths. He mentioned his athleticism and work ethic, which are unquestioned, and his accuracy, which is very questionable. However, he also cited Mitch’s ability to process information as one of his strengths.
Nagy took his spot at the podium a short time later, and was more critical of Mitch’s processing than he was at the end of year press conference, and certainly more critical than Pace was earlier in the day. Nagy emphasized that when it comes to processing information, Mitch must “get to the point where [he’s] so obsessed that no matter what [he’s] doing, [he’s] always watching film.” He added, he “has to be a complete expert and know it better than me” which Nagy conceded Mitch would admit wasn’t the case last season.
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How could the coach and general manager be so fundamentally disconnected on this component of the quarterback evaluation? How could each of them watch two seasons worth of film and come to such different conclusions on such a critical component to playing the position? These are both legitimate and important questions, but not nearly as important as this one — how do they resolve the disconnect? We’re about to find out.
