Bears head coach Matt Nagy is giving up play-calling.
Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor will call plays Monday night against the Vikings, Nagy said Friday.
“It’s not easy. It’s one of my favorite parts of coaching. I love it. I love it ...” Nagy said. “We need to do what’s best for us, not what’s best for Matt Nagy.”
The move “allows me to really look at all three phases from the head coaching position,” Nagy said.
Nagy chose Lazor over quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who has called plays for three different teams, and pass-game coordinator Dave Ragone, who has been a preseason play-caller for the Bears.
“Bill has done it before,” he said. “And I do believe that guys like Dave Ragone and ‘Flip’ — ‘Flip’ has done it, obviously, for a while. But I think it just shows the belief in all those guys. And Bill knows that he’s been there, done that. And all of us working together is hopefully going to be a positive for us.”
Nagy said the move is specifically for Monday’s game, but made it sound as though it will continue after the Bears’ bye week, too.
Earlier Friday, Lazor ducked questions about whether he’d be open to calling plays. But he admitted frustration with the Bears’ offense this season. The Bears have the fourth-worst offense in the NFL, per Football Outsiders.
Lazor was asked how close he felt the Bears offense was to clicking.
“The feel — right, how do I feel? — is not very good,” Lazor said. “But the reality is probably a lot better. I say that because I think many of us — maybe all of us — are at a very frustrated point right now.
“How does it feel? Not very satisfying when you put so much work into it and it doesn’t produce like you’d like it to.”
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