Bears coach Matt Nagy has always talked about the importance of his team’s response to adversity. Well, it’s safe to say that this team hasn’t experienced adversity like this since the start of the Matt Nagy Era.
There’s definite frustration surrounding the Bears — internally and externally — but Nagy believes that frustration can be a good thing. It’s a sign you still care.
Which is probably a good thing considering the frustration is obvious on the team. Players skipping out on postgame interviews, Allen Robinson laying into his critics on Twitter, Tarik Cohen snapping back after a couple of Saints defenders mocked his height and Eddie Jackson urging his teammates to come together for a players-only meeting to find a way to get back on track.
And yet, Nagy has faith that this once-promising roller-coaster of a season won’t ultimately crash and burn.
“I have ultimate trust, I really do, in who our players are as people, how they handle this,” Nagy said Monday. “They’re allowed to have frustration after the game. If they don’t have frustration, it means they don’t care. And so there’s frustration, but there’s ways for them to help each other out, and I’m curious to see as we go here who are going to be the leaders that step up and take this thing over. I know it’ll happen. But I’ll be curious to see who those people are.”
But how does Nagy make sure this isn’t another 2014 Bears, where there was an internal collapse that eventually led to Marc Trestman’s firing?
Nagy insists that is starts with better communication, bringing the right energy in practice and keeping a positive attitude even as it feels like everything is crumbling around them.
“It’s a vibe. It’s an energy,” Nagy said. “Every team is a little bit different. But the core of the person is what to me matters when you go through times like this. We’re being tested right now, and I kind of like it. We’ll see how we end up with this.”
We’ll see how the Bears respond to this adversity when they take on a struggling Los Angeles Chargers (2-5) team desperate for a win of their own.
