Chicago Bears: Instead of developing Justin Fields Nagy blames him

After the latest Chicago Bears blunder of a game, head coach Matt Nagy spent time placing the blame on rookie quarterback Justin Fields. Instead of blaming him, he should develop the youngster.

Things are going from bad to worse for Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy. The team is crumbling and Nagy hasn’t been able to fix things. Three of the four losses the team suffered have been blowouts. Two of them were just complete embarrassments.

Then we saw the reporters get updates on injured offensive linemen not from the head coach or the front office but from another lineman.

Jason Peters, the left tackle who signed just weeks before the season began, gave an update on injured linemen Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom. Jenkins went down early on in training camp due to back surgery and Borom suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1.

Chicago Bears: Instead of developing Justin Fields Nagy blames him

Peters said Borom was starting his three-week practice window before the team activates him from the injured reserve list. On Jenkins’ status, Peters went on to say that Jenkins was a couple of weeks away.

It isn’t a good sign that the media gets updates on injured players from another player. It’s been weeks since we’ve heard any updates on those players. It’s important to know that the struggling offensive line is close to getting reinforcements.

Then there was Allen Robinson. He spoke to reporters about the obvious lack of chemistry he has with quarterback Justin Fields. He explained that since Fields didn’t have reps with the starters during training camp and preseason games, they’re still working out the kinks.

This is the argument everyone made to try to convince Nagy to have Fields work with the starters. Even if Fields didn’t start the season as the starting quarterback, the work with the starters would be invaluable down the road. Now we see how big of a missed opportunity that was.

Nagy starting to pass the buck

With everything going on, Nagy appears to be in defense mode. He knows his job is on the line. What he’s doing now is trying to save his arse. When an animal is cornered it does what it can to defend itself. This is what Nagy is doing now.

Last week, the Bears suffered another embarrassing loss. They fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-3 in a game that really was over before it began. There was no real game plan and no in-game adjustments. The game started out bad and it snowballed from there.

We have to understand that while Nagy has Justin Fields as his QB1, it is obvious that he doesn’t trust him. He knew that after Fields started a couple of games there was no way people would accept Nagy benching him again. Nagy is enamored with Andy Dalton and wanted him to stay as the starter.

Now, when things are going bad, instead of helping the rookie, Nagy is throwing him under the bus. He basically put the blame for the Tampa debacle on Fields.

"Early on it’s just important with a young, rookie quarterback… to get off to a fast start and get some confidence and some momentum going… The one thing you can’t do is give a short field to a great quarterback like that, and a great offense that’s well-coached. And you can’t lose, that drastically, the turnover battle."

Yes, what Nagy said was true. You cannot give someone like Tom Brady a short field. However, you cannot allow the young quarterback to take the beating, both mentally and physically, that Fields has been taking.

Yes, Fields has struggled. He has just two touchdown passes to six interceptions. Part of the reason for that, however, is the poor offensive line play. He hasn’t had the time to make throws.

In his five starts this season, Fields has gotten sacked an incredible 22 times. There have hardly been any adjustments to help the line, which, in turn, helps Fields.

Additionally, Nagy said nothing about Fields’ first interception. On that play, someone told FIelds on his headset that Tampa had 12 men on the field. Fields thought he had a free play and called a quick snap. The line again broke down and Fields ran for his life. He figured he had a free play and a first down so he threw the ball deep down the field. Allen Robinson slipped and the ball was intercepted.

It turned out, though, that Fields got bad information. There was no penalty and the interception stood.

Instead of developing Fields, Nagy takes every opportunity to tell everyone that Fields’ inexperience is hurting the team. It can’t be the coaching, of course. It can’t be the fact that the general manager cannot acquire decent help on the offensive line. It’s all Fields’ fault.

If Nagy feels that it’s all Fields’ fault then he doesn’t deserve to be the man in charge of his development. This is yet another reason the Chicago Bears need to relieve him of his duties.