Latest On Bears, Matt Nagy

The Lions fired their head coach after their Thanksgiving Day game last season. Are the Bears prepared to do the same this year? While Matt Nagy denied a report he will be relieved of his duties after Thursday’s Detroit trip, some interesting details have surfaced regarding the coach’s status.

Nagy canceled the Bears’ scheduled meetings for Tuesday afternoon and did not exactly reveal confidence he would be around much longer, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, and some players are miffed by the lack of direction displayed by the organization this week.

The Bears have lost five straight games for a second consecutive year. While they rallied back to make the playoffs after a six-game skid in 2020, helping Nagy save his job, the outlook is bleaker a year later.

Nagy told media Tuesday he had not met with Bears management this week but informed his players later that day he did, in fact, have a productive meeting with ownership, Biggs adds. Nagy is believed to have met with ownership after making those comments. However, the former Coach of the Year did not address his status with the team, which upset some players due to the uncertainty surrounding this situation. A short-week firing would certainly not be ideal, but word of a potential ouster getting out early does not present a stable picture, either.

Despite addressing their quarterback situation by adding Andy Dalton and Justin Fields, the Bears have regressed again on offense. They will enter Week 12 ranking 31st in total offense and 29th in points — down from 2020’s full-season perches. The 2019 Bears finished 29th in points and yards, injecting concern about their direction after a bounce-back 2018. “Fire Nagy” chants broke out at Soldier Field during Sunday’s loss to the Ravens.

The Bears have leaned against in-season firings, allowing their previous embattled coaches to finish their respective seasons. The franchise has never fired a coach during a season. But Nagy might well be the coach to break this tradition. Nagy has been given more time than the team gave Marc Trestman and John Fox, though the ex-Chiefs OC has led the Bears to two playoff berths — compared to his recent predecessors’ zero — since taking over in 2018.

View Comments (29)