Nick Foles has been the Bears’ starting quarterback for two full games and three whole practices.
All three came before the Colts game. On a short week before their “Thursday Night Football” win against the Buccaneers, the Bears held only walk-throughs. After taking the weekend off, they had another walk-through Monday, wanting to keep their practice squad at home after one of their own, offensive lineman Badara Traore, tested positive for the coronavirus.
When the Bears bemoan a lack of detail and stress the need to “calibrate” their offense, they know the time for that to happen is during practice, not on the sideline during game day. That’s what makes Wednesday’s practice — and the two others this week — so important.
“It all matters, right now: the amount of time on the practice field, especially for Nick and those receivers and tight ends and backs,” pass game coordinator Dave Ragone said Tuesday. “The more we’re able to do that moving forward, obviously the better it’s going to be — better for all of us. And I think it just helps overall with the execution of each play — more importantly, the timing of each route.”
Since taking over for Mitch Trubisky in the third quarter of the Falcons game, Foles has completed 22 passes to receiver Allen Robinson, 12 to running back David Montgomery and 11 to tight end Jimmy Graham. No one else has double-digit receptions from Foles.
Foles’ fourth-quarter wheel route completion to Montgomery on Thursday, then, was even more impressive. Foles had blind faith the running back would be in the right spot.
“I think it really goes down to the faith in your own ability to put a ball in a specific area where then you have the trust, right, that the guy is going to be there,” Ragone said. “But more importantly, you have faith with your own ability that you can make any throw — more importantly, when under duress — into a position where if our guy doesn’t grab it, then no one will grab it.”
Foles graded out better Thursday night than he did in the Colts loss, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said. After the Bears’ 20-19 win, though, head coach Matt Nagy complained about the offense’s frustrating lack of detail. DeFilippo listed four details he stresses to Foles: throwing on time; using proper footwork; not getting so deep in the pocket as to affect pass protection; and keeping his left shoulder pointed forward.
Practice gives Foles time to refine those physical skills. It also allows Foles and the coaching staff to test out plays that make him comfortable on real grass, not a Zoom meeting. That’s a critical step, as Foles and Nagy are still working through what their offense should look like.
Foles is in his ninth season and has a Super Bowl MVP to his name. Coaches listen.
“The longer a guy has been in the league, the more experience he’s seen and had and more reps that he’s stored in his memory bank,” DeFilippo said. “I would say the veteran guys I’ve been around see things more from a 30,000-foot view than some of the younger guys.”
Fox cameras caught Foles and Nagy having an animated sideline discussion Thursday. At issue: Foles wanted to keep running an up-tempo offense in the previous possession, while Nagy instead sent in new personnel for a red-zone play he liked.
Like Nagy did, DeFilippo painted the discussion as healthy.
“The quarterback has to almost be an extension of the play-caller and the play-caller almost has be an extension of the quarterback,” he said. “We haven’t had that time yet here. I know that people want to use that as an excuse but … that’s reality.”
