Even the most disciplined teams have its off days. But that’s when it’s important to have a head coach that knows how to handle that situation.
On the final practice of training camp, the Chicago Bears had perhaps their messiest day. After two and a half weeks of grueling practices, the Bears suffered from mental fatigue that resulted in a “decent” practice.
According to the Sun-Times, coaches were heard shouting a lot during drills over the course of three hours, and some players even got physical despite not being in full pads.
Two of those players in question were right guard Kyle Long and defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, who were involved in a “harmless dust-up.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy doesn’t get in the faces of his players. He usually doesn’t have to.
But on days like these, which have been few and far between, it’s his job to remind his players that they’re chasing a Super Bowl championship. There is no room for error and no room for off days. Not when you’re “chasing great.”
“I’m going to always revert back to that when you have high character people, they can handle that,” Nagy said after practice. “If you have a bunch of bad people or turds, they don’t.
“And we don’t have turds on this team.”
But one bad day of practice hasn’t ruined the whole training camp, which has been an inspired effort heading into a regular season with sky-high expectations.
