The morning after his offense produced a historically inept performance that gained 47 yards on 42 plays and saw his rookie quarterback get hit on more than half his throws, Bears coach Matt Nagy said “everything’s on the table” to fix it.
That includes, Nagy said, potentially deciding to cede play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. And it includes playing a different quarterback Sunday, though Fields still figures to have an edge, provided his busted right hand, which isn’t broken, doesn’t swell or cause him too much pain. Andy Dalton remains “week-to-week” with a bone bruise in his left knee, Nagy said, before deciding to punt any further quarterback questions to Wednesday.
Otherwise, though, Nagy was light on details, saying that he and the coaching staff will spend the next day-and-a-half making evaluations — including of themselves — before Wednesday’s practice.
“When you don’t have the success we had on offense [Sunday], with a rookie quarterback in Justin, of course it keeps you up at night, because you want to figure out why,” Nagy said. “So we’re looking at everything right now. Looking at everything — I think that’s being completely honest with you, and real. I care about this situation immensely. Our players care. Our coaches care. So we gotta figure it out and we’ve got to figure it out fast.”
Asked specifically if he could give up calling plays, Nagy reiterated that “everything’s on the table.” He said he will communicate with his coaches and players over the next 36 hours as to how to move forward. If that was sounds vague, it’s because it was. Nagy peppered his Monday morning mea culpa with some of his favorite talking points — the players care and the coaches and trying to figure out the “whys.”
It’s clear Nagy grasped the gravity of what happened Sunday, though.
“I think what we realize and understand is yesterday you can’t have that,” he said. “We understand that. It’s common sense. Yesterday was frustrating on a lot of different levels. And I say that not for one particular person or two or three, but across the board. That was hard. And so anytime that happens. … How were the [last] 18 hours? It’s not fun because of the care we all have for this, the want that we have to be great. If you are honest with yourself, you’re honest with your players and sometimes there’s tough conversations.”
