Matt Nagy was a Chiefs assistant under Andy Reid before he became the Bears head coach and he’s returning to Kansas City for his first job since being fired by the Bears at the end of the 2021 season.
The Chiefs announced on Friday that they have hired Nagy as a senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. Mike Kafka was their quarterbacks coach for the last two seasons, but he took the Giants offensive coordinator job earlier this year.
Nagy spent two seasons as the Chiefs offensive coordinator before being hired by the Bears in 2018. He was their quarterbacks coach for three seasons before being promoted and spent the previous five seasons on Reid’s staff with the Eagles.
Eric Bieniemy was the running backs coach during Nagy’s previous tenure with the Chiefs and he got bumped up to offensive coordinator after Nagy left and agreed to a new deal to remain in that role this week. Should he move on for a head coaching job or for other reasons after the 2022 season, Nagy could step back into his former role with the AFC West club.
Nagy went 34-31 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs during his four seasons in Chicago.
The NFL coaching carousel is upon us with the conclusion of the regular season, as plenty of teams will begin to make decisions on the future of their franchise. The Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars began the process of searching for their next coach during the season with the in-season firings of Jon Gruden and Urban Meyer. (Jacksonville has already begun the process of searching for their next head coach.)
The Denver Broncos didn’t waste any time in firing Vic Fangio, making them the third team that will be looking for a new head coach in 2022. The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago bears are two other teams that made a decision on their coaches, moving on from Mike Zimmer and Matt Nagy, respectively.
With all the coaches on the move around the NFL, we’ll be tracking every single firing around the league (and the coaches who are going to be retained). To keep you up to date on the latest firings, rumors and hirings, make sure to keep tabs on the coaching tracker below.
Dolphins
Fired: Brian Flores
Hired: TBD
Flores never made the playoffs in three seasons in Miami, but he’ll be one of the most sought after candidates in this hiring cycle. He’s the only head coach to start a season 1-7 and finish with a winning record (2021), as the Dolphins went 24-25 in his three seasons — with two winning campaigns. Flores went 24-18 in his final 42 games as a head coach.
The firing of Flores is the most surprising of this head coaching cycle, even if the Dolphins never had an offense ranked above 22nd in his three seasons at the helm. Miami has uncertainty at quarterback with Tua Tagovailoa and a poor offensive line, a task the next head coach will have to inherit. Flores overachieved in Miami, despite the Dolphins trying to stock up draft capital and missing on free agent signings over the last three years.
Vikings
Fired: Mike Zimmer
Hired: TBD
The Vikings fired Zimmer on Monday after eight seasons leading the franchise. While Zimmer finished 72-56-1 in his tenure, the Vikings were just 15-18 over the last two seasons and failed to make the playoffs both seasons. Minnesota is just 33-31 since losing in the NFC Championship Game in the 2017 season, having the 27th ranked defense in 2020 and the 30th ranked defense in 2021.
Minnesota has a quarterback in Kirk Cousins and a high-powered offense, yet Cousins has a $45 million cap number for 2022. The next head coach of the Vikings will be tasked with fixing a defense that has been one of the worst in the NFL the last two years and how to manage the Cousins situation (which will be the task of the next general manager going forward as Rick Spielman was also fired).
Bears
Fired: Matt Nagy
Hired: TBD
The Bears moved on from Nagy after four seasons leading the franchise, as Nagy finished with a 34-31 record with only one losing season (2021). Nagy lead the Bears to the NFC North title in his first season and won coach of the year, but went just 20-27 since. He was tasked with developing quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, but the Bears moved on from him despite making the playoffs in two of Trubisky’s three seasons as a starting quarterback.
Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace traded up and drafted Justin Fields, only to have Andy Dalton start over him to start the season as Fields struggled in his development. The Bears have a top-ten defense in yards allowed, but the next head coach will be tasked on fixing a talented and broken offense. Fields is a good centerpiece for a coach that likes to develop quarterbacks.
Broncos
Fired: Vic Fangio
Hired: TBD
The Broncos fired Fangio after he failed to get them in the playoffs after three seasons in Denver, compiling a 19-30 record in his tenure. Denver hasn’t made the playoffs in six seasons, and is still searching for that franchise quarterback the team hasn’t had since Peyton Manning.
Fangio built a strong defense in Denver, but general manager George Paton bought low on Teddy Bridgewater in the hopes Denver would finish with a winning record and compete for the playoffs. The Bridgewater experiment didn’t last, but Denver has a talented roster that could compete for the AFC West with a much better signal-caller. Denver already has Dan Quinn as a candidate for its next head coach, and more candidates are expected to be revealed in the coming days.
Raiders
Fired: Jon Gruden
Hired: TBD
Gruden was the first head coach to be fired after a series of emails were released in an investigation into the Washington Football Team that included racist, homophobic and sexist emails sent from Gruden. The Raiders went with interim head coach Rich Bisaccia for the remainder of the season. Bisaccia has gone 7-5 and has Vegas in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Raiders job will be an attractive one if Bisaccia isn’t retained, and the team could have interest in Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Vegas may get a later start on searching for its head coach since the Raiders made the playoffs.
Jaguars
Fired: Urban Meyer
Hired: TBD
The Jaguars fired Meyer 13 games into his first season after a series of incidents led to his dismissal. Interim head coach Darrell Bevell filled in the final four games for the Jaguars, who have already begun the process of searching for a head coach. The Jaguars have interviewed Doug Pederson, Todd Bowles, Jim Caldwell, Byron Leftwich, and Kellen Moore over the last two weeks — and also plan to interview Bill O’Brien.
With Trevor Lawrence and the No. 1 overall pick, the Jaguars job will be an attractive one.
DETROIT — Matt Nagy could let out a sigh of relief on Thanksgiving.
With all the scrutiny the Chicago Bears coach faced regarding his job status over the past week, the 16-14 victory over the Detroit Lions made him extremely thankful for a much-needed celebration as they snapped a five-game losing skid.
“When there’s distractions, which is in every sport, in all facets of life — there’s always going to be distractions,” Nagy said. “It’s how you handle them. And again, we got the win today, and it could’ve went a lot of different ways. But the reason why we got the win is because of how they handled the distractions, you know? That’s where to me, when you’re in this business and you lead people, it’s my job to make sure of honest and open communication. That’s where, for me, I just can’t tell you how much this win means today to me because of what they did.”
Controversy surrounded the Bears this week due to a report Tuesday on Patch.com that claimed the Bears had already informed Nagy that Thanksgiving’s game against the Lions would be his last, regardless of the outcome, which he firmly denied as being “false.”
That report prompted Bears team chairman George McCaskey to address the players Wednesday, reinforcing to them that Nagy would not be fired after the game.
Although players wouldn’t go into detail about the meeting, quarterback Andy Dalton said the outside noise didn’t come within the team as they were able to close out the win with a last-second 28-yard field goal by kicker Cairo Santos.
The Bears drove the ball 18 plays over the final 8:30 of the game before kicking the game-winning field goal as time expired for their first win since Week 5.
“I think that, like I said, there’s a lot that has gone on,” said Dalton, who became the first Bears QB with a 300-yard passing game since Nick Foles did it Week 9 of the 2020 season. “The most important thing is the guys in the locker room staying together throughout it all.
“Regardless of what’s being reported, regardless of what’s going on in the outside and stuff, there’s still a lot of season left. For us, the focus is on winning games. I think that’s the biggest thing for us is just doing everything we can to put our best foot forward and to make the most of the next one, and that was today, and we did that.”
Now that the Bears have a win, Nagy is looking to go about his business to keep this team locked in.
Nagy said he hasn’t allowed the chatter about his job status to hurt his ability to coach the team and that it hasn’t affected him on a personal level because of his support system in place. He hopes to continue that with everything now cleared up.
“Again, for me, there is only my understanding, which is what it’s been since the day I signed up to be this coach, is to win as many games as I can possibly win, and do it the right way,” Nagy said of his understanding of his job security moving forward. “When you lose five games in a row, you understand. When you’re 3-7, you know what territory it can get to. You know what I mean? That comes with the job. I knew that four years ago when I took this, and so here we are. Every week is a little bit different.
“This one was definitely different. This is one of those weeks where you use it moving forward. You don’t make any predictions, but what you do is when you go home on that plane tonight and everyone’s having a good time because they’re able to celebrate and have fun watching the tape and enjoy their Thanksgiving and get back to being healthy and understand what games are next, but the only game that matters is Arizona coming up. That’s it. So again, for me, the only thing I can say to those players is that I appreciate them and we have a hell of a group of guys, players and coaches, and they showed it today by getting a win.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy has been under an intense spotlight in Chicago, but students at one Chicago-area high school crossed the line by targeting Nagy’s son.
Cary-Grove High School has issued an apology for the conduct of some of its students toward Nagy’s son, who played for Lake Forest High School in a playoff game on Saturday.
“At the recent Cary-Grove vs. Lake Forest 6A high school football game played on Saturday, November 20, members of the Cary-Grove student body began a chant targeting the parent of one of the Lake Forest team members and his family,” the statement from Cary-Grove’s principal said. “On behalf of Cary-Grove High School, I want to assure our community that the chant was not acceptable nor appropriate and was immediately addressed by administration at the game. We also felt it was important to meet with our student superfans that lead our chants and cheers to talk about what happened and give them an opportunity to reflect and correct their actions.”
Cary-Grove beat Lake Forest to advance to the state championship game against East St. Louis on Saturday.
Remember, remember, it’s only the fifth of November. But according to one NFL insider, the Chicago Bears are already lining up potential candidates to succeed Matt Nagy. At the top of the list? Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
NFL insider Benjamin Allbright joined Jon Zaghoul on Sports Talk Chicago this week and says the Bears are getting a list together of potential head coaching candidates they would like to interview, even though Nagy still has a job.
Allbright says Nagy is “100 percent” fired at the end of the season though.
“From my conversations with people, the [Bears] have already started doing backgrounds on potential replacements,” Allbright told Zaghoul. “I’ll say Brian Daboll would be the leader in the clubhouse.”
NEWS: @AllbrightNFL reveals that #DaBears have begun to gather information on HC replacements for #MattNagy.
Plus, Benjamin gives an in-depth evaluation of #JustinFields!
The report that the Bears are already getting names together for if/when Nagy is fired isn’t all that surprising, but is welcoming news. Regardless if a change is made or not, the team should have a short list put together for potential interviews when that time eventually comes.
It’s also notable that Allbright mentioned Daboll as the top name in mind. Two weeks ago, he tweeted a similar claim that the longtime coach would likely be the Bears’ top choice if a change were to be made.
I didn’t say that was the whole list, I just said the shortlist started there.
Daboll will have multiple teams after him Chicago is probably the leader in the clubhouse. Moore has no HC experience and no ties to anyone in the building. Doesn’t mean he won’t, just long shot.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 14, 2021
Daboll has coaches various positions with multiple NFL and college teams over the last 20 years, including stints with the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Alabama Crimson Tide, and now with the Bills. He’s currently coordinating the top scoring offense in the NFL with MVP-candidate Josh Allen and has been with the team since the 2018 season.
His offenses with Buffalo have ascended in each consecutive year, as well Allen’s development from a project quarterback into a superstar. Last season, the Bills finished with a top-five offense in nearly every statistical category as they captured the NFC East division for the first time since 1995 with a 13-3 record.
Daboll is an excellent offensive coordinator, but would he be an effective NFL head coach? Allbright seems to think so.
“I’ve spoken with coach Daboll a few times, he’s a nice guy…I believe in him,” he said. “I think he’s probably the best hire in this coming offseason.”
Allbright also mentioned the Bears could give an interview to Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator and former Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph, but maintains his belief that Daboll would be their top choice.
There’s still half a season to go and nothing is truly certain in the NFL, but perhaps the Bears make a quick work of their head coaching decision this winter.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy said it will be a game-time decision as to whether Andy Dalton or Justin Fields starts at quarterback on Sunday versus the Detroit Lions.
Veteran Nick Foles is not under consideration to start, according to Nagy.
“We know what we are doing and that’s what we are believing in and going with,” Nagy said after Friday’s practice.
Nagy has repeatedly insisted that Dalton is Chicago’s starter when healthy, but the 33-year-old quarterback suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in Week 2 and was inactive for Sunday’s 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Dalton had limited participation in practice all week and is officially listed as questionable to face the Lions.
“I feel good,” Dalton said on Friday. “When you suffer an injury, you’re trying to do everything you can to rehab and get feeling good as soon as possible. So everything’s been heading in the right direction and everything’s improving so I feel good about where I’m at.”
Fields sustained a right thumb injury against the Browns, but had full participation all week and is not listed with an injury designation on the final report.
Cleveland sacked Fields nine times in the rookie’s NFL starting debut and held him to just 6 of 20 passing for 68 yards and 12 rushing yards on three attempts.
For his part, Fields said he enjoyed a solid week of practice and successfully put the Browns game behind him.
“This week’s practice compared to last week’s practice, I felt just more comfortable at practice just kind of getting that under my belt and getting kind of past that,” he said. “Last week, you really can’t get worse than that. I mean, I hope not. But I felt comfortable this week.”
Nagy echoed the sentiment.
“Justin’s game that he played last week, he did a lot of things that he’s going to learn from,” Nagy said. “But we also, and myself, have to help him. I think the biggest thing for him is, ‘OK, here’s how I was in the week of practice. Here’s how I was on game day, both physically and mentally. Now how am I going to be heading into this week? Am I getting better? Is there improvement? Am I getting better at the things I was good at? Am I getting better at the things that I wasn’t so good at?’
“And that’s what we’re doing as coaches throughout the week of practice, is, being able to watch him and see that. I can say from last week to this week that you do see that advancement. That there, knowing and feeling how he practiced, is why I would answer it that way.”
In other news, Nagy declined to reveal whether he would continue to call offensive plays or hand the duty over to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor or another assistant coach. The Bears had just 47 total net yards, one net passing yard and averaged 1.1 yards per offensive play in Sunday’s ugly defeat to the Browns.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — After the Browns sacked Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields nine times in their 26-6 victory on Sunday — including 4 1/2 by Myles Garrett — ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky called for Bears coach Matt Nagy’s head to roll immediately.
“The Chicago Bears should fire Matt Nagy today,’’ Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up. “Because yesterday’s gameplan — which was the worst one I’ve ever seen in my life — was either negligence or intentional. It’s been 149 days since the Bears drafted Justin Fields. You had 149 days to start to build a gameplan around the skillset of this young man, and it was an embarrassment.
“Justin Fields threw the ball 20 times yesterday. Thirteen times they went with five-man protection with no help for their offensive line. Thirteen out of 20! Yesterday you showed us that you are either incapable of designing the proper gameplan, around a dynamic quarterback, or you showed us that it was intentional that you wanted him to fail, and you set him up to be a disaster.’’
Indeed, Fields was sacked on almost 50% of his 20 attempts, and completed only six for 68 yards. The Bears finished with an astonishing 1 net yard passing, and 47 net yards overall. The mobile Fields rushed only three times for 12 yards, with a long gain of 7. According to ESPN Stats and Info, in 30 dropbabacks, the Bears used pre-snap motion four times, max protection twice, designed rollouts twice, and designed QB runs twice.
“You moved the pocket once in the first half?’’ Orlovsky said. “One time (in the middle of the second quarter). One time. You don’t design routes…you ran the same third-down situation, third and 5, third and 6, third and 8 and third and 7. You ran the same play twice. The same play twice. You’re getting paid for that? That’s what you build with the gameplan that you have 149 days?….From the moment you drafted Justin Fields, you should’ve been designing all of these gameplans, so when he gets on the field, you unleash him.
“And it’s a Colin Kaepernick-type situation. ….But you’re dropping back and you’re going ‘we can block this defense with five-man protection?’ Don’t tell me he’s not ready. It’s your freaking job to get him ready to play and figure out the things he can do.’’
Garrett, coming off constant chipping by the Texans and a smart gameplan that left him sackless in last week’s 31-21 victory, was almost never chipped or doubled by the Bears, and he teed off to set the Browns single-game sack record and take over the NFL lead with 5.5.
Not only did they not put extra bodies on him, their 39-year-old left tackle Jason Peters — although a nine-time Pro Bowler from his glory days — was no match for Garrett whatsoever. Heading into the season, the Bears’ offensive line was ranked 28th by Pro Football Focus, and it lived up the ranking. It was a recipe for disaster for Fields in his first NFL start, and a formula for wild success for the hungry Browns, who had only three sacks coming in and were taking heat for it.
In fact, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski believes it might be the most dominant defensive performance he’s been a part of.
“Without checking, I’d say yes,’’ he said. “You guys saw it. They were dominant from the jump. They gave up some points on the first drive, but they kept us in the ballgame. It was a tight ballgame into the fourth quarter and our defense kept us in it and they did a great job. In terms of their performance, can you repeat that every single week? I hope so. But the big takeaway for me is that they practice like that last week and you can take the practice field to the game field is really my reflection on it.’’
Of course, if smart offenses go back to chipping and doubling Garrett, he might not get home more than four times every game, but it was certainly the breakout performance the Browns needed from him.
“Myles was outstanding,’’ said Stefanski said. “Really, the entire defense was outstanding, but if you point at an individual, it would certainly be Myles in that effort yesterday. He’s our best player. He knows that. We know that. And the other teams know that, so he’s going to get a lot of attention, we’re going to move him around, we’re going to do different things with him and we need him to play great, and again it’s no secret to anybody.’’
Garrett’s teammates also responded to his challenge to make plays, with Jadeveon Clowney notching his first two sacks since the 2019 season, safety Ronnie Harrison getting one, and Takk McKinley, Malik Jackson and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah each getting a half.
“JD was great yesterday,’’ Stefanski said of Clowney. “He was locked in at practice last week. He works really hard. He fits what we want to do. He’a great teammates. He’s affecting the game, and he has the ability to affect the game in the run and the pass.’’
Overall, it was the type of performance expected from this formidable defensive front, with its two No. 1 overall picks on the edges. The Browns’ nine sacks tied for their most since a game against the 49ers on Dec. 13, 2015, and fell two short of the club record.
“Anytime you can have that type of production from your defensive line from a sack standpoint, it’s pretty rare,’’ Stefanski said. “The pressure has been there as we’ve talked about. Those sacks seem to come in bunches, but those are three explosive, long athletes (Garrett, Clowney and McKinley) that we need to continue to better. That really has to be our mentality as a defense, as an attacking defense whether we’re bringing four, five six, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to attack and I thought the guys did a nice job yesterday.’’
It was so gratifying from field level that cornerback Troy Hill has an idea for Garrett.
“Man, pay the man again,’’ Hill said. “Give him some more money. That’s dominance at its finest.’’
And arguably Bears gameplanning at its worst.
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There has been a lot of criticism about the Bears’ offensive game plan in their 34-14 loss to the Rams on Sunday Night Football, where Chicago’s downfield passing attack was nonexistent.
The Bears pounded the ball with running back David Montgomery and relied on quick, short passes from quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton’s longest pass attempt was 16 yards, and he didn’t complete a pass over 10 yards. In fact, only 5 of his 38 attempts were for 10 yards or more.
There’s been plenty of frustration from fans. But there was a quote from wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who signed with the Bears this offseason, about the Bears’ approach against Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey that was quite telling. In fact, you could say this was a direct shot at Nagy.
“He’s a unique player, All-Pro, Pro Bowler, instinctive, especially in short spaces. And us not running past 10 yards, that fell right into his hands I feel like.”
As you can imagine, Twitter had quite a reaction to Goodwin’s comments, which has many wondering if Nagy has already lost the locker room after Week 1. Many are praising Goodwin for his honesty, which shed a light on Nagy’s poor offensive scheme.
I didn’t have one game to lose the locker room but hey it was that bad – if they lose on Sunday then it’s fields by week three and no trust in HC. https://t.co/znFlrzCesX
— Joel Braunold (@braunold) September 14, 2021
This feels like a direct shot at Matt Nagy.
And if Goodwin was willing to publicly make this comment, he’s probably not the only player in that locker room that feels this way. https://t.co/iyfjxn03em
— Corey Seeley (@coreyalex) September 14, 2021
It’s almost like we played right into the defense’s strengths.
Also, save me the “Andy Dalton can’t throw deep” nonsense. He’s done it plenty his entire career.
THE. SCHEME. SUCKS. https://t.co/weXZVvDf6X
— Duke Coughlin (@ThatPodGuyDuke) September 14, 2021
This really begs the question of “What in the hell are we doing here?” They’ve already deviated from the proposed “Mahomes Plan” by putting in JF1 sporadically.
Also, make no mistake, players and the locker room know the issues and who’s better. This could her ugly, and fast. https://t.co/0uwbp9uvxB
— Danny Meehan (@DanMeehan90) September 14, 2021
I think Nagy might end up being toast. This is not good. When’s the last time you remember a player directly calling out scheme…I think it rhymes with “messman” https://t.co/1Pnr7tKxKC
— Sam Householder (@SamHouseholder) September 14, 2021
When your newly-signed WRs are already subtweeting your offensive scheme (and QB by proxy), you know the locker room wants to see Fields.
Doomsday clock is probably at 11:35PM, if not later. https://t.co/Pj6lxLw2Wy
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) September 14, 2021
here for the entire roster bagging on the coaching staff. until someone with a headset on figures it out or gets canned, keep putting the pressure on them https://t.co/puLLiC4qOD
— Ron Mexico (@m_gallagher18) September 14, 2021
The offense is already turning on Nagy and Dalton.
We all knew this is how it would go down.
Marquis Goodwin and Damiere Byrd running routes 5 yards from the line of scrimmage for body throws should end the playcaller up in the penitentiary. https://t.co/PzJ8Ts8uiv
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy understands Nick Foles’ trade value better than anybody.
One year after Nagy helped spearhead the Bears’ acquisition of Foles from the Jacksonville Jaguars, the veteran quarterback’s name is being bandied about again as a potential trade target in light of Thursday’s foot injury to Colts starter Carson Wentz.
Nagy, who coached Foles — currently the Bears’ third-string quarterback — in both Kansas City and Chicago, said such speculation comes with the territory given Foles’ impressive career accomplishments.
He said he “absolutely” understands why teams would be interested in Foles. “And you’re talking about a Super Bowl MVP and a guy that’s started a lot of games,” Nagy said before Saturday’s practice. “He’s had a really interesting career in so many ways that I just think that he deserves that. I mean, anybody that’s had the career he has is somebody that’s always going to be … for all teams, as a third string guy, teams are going to look at guys like him.”
Nagy added that he and Foles have not discussed any of the trade rumors since the team reported to training camp at the beginning of the week.
“I don’t talk to him about that; he doesn’t talk to me about it,” Nagy said. “We just don’t go there because, again, that’s out of our control. He’s worrying about doing everything he can to just be great for us, and that’s what I like about our relationship. He’s happy with where he’s at here and he’s in a good place.”
Foles, 32, appeared in nine games for the Bears last season and passed for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The MVP of Super Bowl LII, Foles has played for five NFL teams, including two stints in Philadelphia. He has 55 career regular-season starts and six in the postseason.
Foles’ current contract — one that he reworked prior to joining the Bears last year — carries an approximate $6.6 million salary-cap charge in 2021.
The 10-year veteran opened camp behind starter Andy Dalton and first-round pick Justin Fields on Chicago’s quarterback depth chart, but by all accounts he has embraced his current backup role.
“I would say probably 95% of people in Nick’s situation would handle it completely opposite of the way he’s handled it, from the time that I brought him in and told him that he was going be the third-string quarterback,” Nagy said. “And I have to give so much credit to him because he accepted it. He understood it. Was he happy about it? No. But he understood it. … From the time we got to OTAs until now, we all talked about how impressed we are with how he’s handled himself in that role.
“I mean, every rep he gets, which isn’t a lot, but every rep he gets, he acts like he’s the first-string quarterback. He comes in in the morning and gets his workouts in super early. He stays after practice and gets conditioning in. He told me that right now, he’s in the best shape physically and mentally that he’s been in his career. Honestly, that was shocking to me, because you never know where a guy’s going to come into the summer or after the summer, and he’s done everything in his power. It’s been really neat, and he’s been great for Justin and Andy.”
Within hours of the report that Washington is parting ways with quarterback Alex Smith, reports started pegging the Bears as the logical next stop in Smith’s career.
Smith could make sense for Chicago because the Bears need a quarterback, and because Smith has a strong relationship with Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who was the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator during Smith’s five seasons in Kansas City.
Shortly after the Bears hired Nagy, Smith told the Chicago Tribune that Nagy is a tremendous coach.
“He and I spent five years together and we were about as close as it gets from a coach-and-player relationship,” Smith said of Nagy. “To see him grow as a quarterbacks coach, then go to coordinator and now I am pumped for him as he becomes a head coach. I think he is going to do awesome.”
Whether Smith is going to compete for a starting job or be a veteran backup, he’s the kind of player Nagy would like to have.
