Dysfunction of Chicago Bears on Full Display With Matt Nagy Press Conference About Andy Dalton
By Liam McKeone
The Chicago Bears' quarterback controversy had another element thrown into the mix yesterday when Andy Dalton got hurt and Justin Fields replaced him. Fields did not look particularly ready for the NFL spotlight, completing only six passes on 13 attempts for 60 yards and a costly interception while running the ball 10 times for 31 yards. This morning's reports suggest Dalton avoided serious injury, but it's still unclear if he'll miss any time.
All that meant Matt Nagy would have some questions to answer during this morning's press conference and boy, did he not answer those questions! Not at first, anyway. Nagy was asked if Dalton would remain the starter if he's healthy and declined to answer because of "scheme." After the reporter stated (accurately!) it is not scheme-related to ask who is the starting quarterback, Nagy insisted it was totally scheme-related and didn't give a yes or no.
Reporter: “Is Andy [Dalton] still your starter if healthy?"
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) September 20, 2021
Matt Nagy: “That’s something that I’m not going to get into with scheme.”
Reporter: “That’s not scheme.”
Nagy: “Yes it is."
This would be bad enough on its own. But then, after the press conference, Nagy sent out the Bears PR team to answer the question he refused to answer. For some reason.
#Bears PR just came into the media room to deliver a message from Matt Nagy:
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 20, 2021
Andy Dalton is the team's starting quarterback when he is healthy.
From a distance, it seems like one of Nagy's bosses saw his non-answer and told him to fix that straight away because it could draw unwanted attention in the form of a quarterback controversy. Or Nagy saw Dalton limping around and felt bad so he put out a real answer.
It's just a disaster. It is inexplicable for Nagy to not just answer this question. It's not like Fields blew anyone away on Sunday! If he had simply said "yes" initially, nobody would care. Outrage and frustration over Nagy's support of Dalton over Fields is not new to anyone who feels it.
It's just another piece of evidence to use in the argument that Nagy doesn't really know what he's doing up there. Why didn't he just answer the question after months of defending Dalton like the Red Rifle was his own flesh and blood? Why did he feel the need to answer after the fact? Why did he choose scheme as his deflection method?
Much like the Bears' decision-making over the last half-decade, it just makes no damn sense.