Bears coach Matt Nagy seems to know he picked the wrong year to have an open competition at quarterback.
“It’s not easy, but it’s going to get done,” Nagy said when asked about choosing either Mitch Trubisky or Nick Foles without the benefit of preseason games due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even in normal times, the process of picking a starting quarterback prior to the start of the regular season is rife with potential for false positives — especially with the preseason devolving in recent seasons into a battleground to pick the bottom half of the roster.
But at least that was real football, as close to regular-season full speed as you’re going to get. Without it, Nagy is left with practice reps and modified scrimmages — mostly against second- and third-teamers likely — to determine the Trubisky vs. Foles battle. Practice is a famously poor indicator of game-day performance — never more overtly than last year against the Saints, when Trubisky missed an early third-down throw to an open Taylor Gabriel and lamented afterward, “I hit that every single time this week in practice.”
To his credit, Nagy is aware of how specious that part of the process can be, so he’s determined to alter it to provide a better measuring stick.
“We have a method to the madness,” Nagy said. “We need to be creative within these drills and make sure the time that’s given to us in practice, that we’re using it as much as we can with competitive periods.
“It’s hard to do that in walkthroughs. It’s hard to do that in meetings, even if they’re in person. But when we get a chance to go out there, we’re evaluating those quarterbacks with every single play. Not just throw, but every single check they make at the line of scrimmage; every bit of leadership they show in and out of the huddle, we’re there watching how they react to a specific play in practice.”
What that likely means is that Nagy and his quarterback-centric offensive staff are going to come in handy more than ever this season, because intuition and feel will be more vital than completions, touchdowns and any other metrics in training camp, when it comes to choosing a starter.
Since general manager Ryan Pace signed Mike Glennon in free agency and drafted Trubisky over others, the Bears have added a significant amount of quarterback knowledge — Nagy, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Nagy was the Chiefs quarterbacks coach under quarterback guru Andy Reid — and the offensive coordinator when Alex Smith led the NFL with a 104.7 passer rating in 2017. DeFilippo was the Eagles quarterbacks coach when Carson Wentz and Foles led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory in 2018. Lazor was the Eagles quarterbacks coach when Foles led the NFL with a 119.2 passer rating in 2013.
Trubisky has played — and sounded — like a quarterback with too many voices in his ear, but in this situation, the more quarterback expertise on the Bears’ coaching staff, the better. Nagy is nearly as open-minded as he is self-confident — two vital traits with a decision like this in the balance.
“Our coordinators are doing a heck of a job of figuring out ways to maximize those competitive plays and periods,” Nagy said. “We feel confident that we believe it’ll all play itself out. It’s gonna be completely open and we’re just gonna take it day by day. We’re excited to see that happen.”
Nagy acknowledged that Foles is at a disadvantage because of the limitations of COVID-19 on the offseason schedule. “Nick knows that. He’s a smart guy,” Nagy said. “But at the same time, I think he’ll be hungry to get back out there and prove it on the field and try to build up those relationships he lost.”
The Bears also have holdover assistant Dave Ragone — a Trubisky confidant bumped from quarterbacks coach to passing-game coordinator in the offseason. And then there’s Pace, whose record as a quarterback evaluator is dubious, but also will have a voice in this.
“The good thing with Matt is it’s constant dialogue,” Pace said. “Constant communication, constant collaboration between him and I and his coaching staff. It’ll be a collaborative decision.”
That’s how the Bears do everything under Pace, of course. But at this point, Pace has to know that ultimately, this needs to be Nagy’s call.
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