Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky appears to critique play-calling
With the Chicago Bears are out of playoff contention, do we see cracks in the wall of unity, the latest rift between Mitchell Trubisky and Matt Nagy?
Well, now we don’t have to grasp at straws to hope the Chicago Bears make it to the playoffs. After losing to the hated Green Bay Packers in Week 15, the Bears are out of playoff contention.
With the end of hope for the playoffs, what happens now? Well, there are still two more games left. They host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 and hope to be spoilers when they face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17. Can they still play hard, however?
This will be head coach Matt Nagy’s toughest test — can he still get the team to play hard even though there is nothing on the line except pride? Even through all the frustrations of this season, he’s done a great job of keeping his players together.
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After the Bears’ Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, they held a record of 4-6. The team could have quit then. Instead, they ran off three consecutive wins to get back over .500 and keep their playoff hopes alive. Now that those hopes are dashed, can Nagy continue to have the players continue to play hard?
We might have seen a crack on that wall of unity. After the Packers loss, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky appeared to criticize Nagy’s play-calling. He was asked about the Packers pass rush. He gave the Packers credit for their good play and even praised his offensive line’s play. That was expected.
What wasn’t expected was a criticism of Nagy’s gameplan, per Yahoo Sports:
"“I feel like they were pretty good. I felt like our O-line played really well. I thought we could have taken more pressure off them by moving the pocket a little more and me getting out… We’ve just got to continue to find ways to take pressure off our O-line. With a good pass rush like that, we need to continue to mix it up, whether it’s with screens, running it, draws — all that kind of stuff helps.”"
Reporters asked Trubisky to clarify his comment and whether it was a criticism of the gameplan, he doubled down.
"Could’ve done a lot of stuff, yeah."
This is something different coming out of Trubisky. He’s always avoided creating any waves with his comments. Even during the John Fox era when the coach kept tight reins on his play, he kept from saying anything contrary to the coach. That appears to have changed now.
For his part, Nagy dismisses the critique as Trubisky just letting off steam after a tough loss, per ESPN:
"“You guys are always catching us right after the game,” Nagy said Monday. “And so there’s a lot of emotions that go through. Here we are losing a game like that and knowing we could’ve played better… So I know the effect or what he means by any of that.”"
As I mentioned, this is a big test for Nagy. Last season, the team was winning so the players bought into him. Will they continue now that they’re losing? Former Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman didn’t have the players buy into him, most notably quarterback Jay Cutler. Things spiraled in his second season after the Bears nearly made the playoffs in his first season.
Nagy benched Trubisky when he struggled in the Rams game. The Bears later claimed that Trubisky had a hip injury, though many questioned that claim. Was the claim true? We cannot be sure.
The perception was that it was a true benching, especially the way Nagy embraced Trubisky on the sidelines when he took him out. Some feel that the move was a message sent to general manager Ryan Pace about not being able to do more with Trubisky. Now, Trubisky might be sending Nagy a message as well.
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At least Nagy is getting a third season. Trestman didn’t get that. Next season, however, will be a big one for Nagy. If he doesn’t have the quarterback’s support (publicly or privately), this offense won’t be much different. Hopefully, this is just a blip on the radar and things go well next season. If not, then things need to be smoothed over this offseason or changes need to be made.