Bears coach Matt Nagy seemed very pragmatic on Tuesday regarding the report that he’ll be fired after Thursday’s game against the Lions. After the 16-14 win, Nagy was equally pragmatic.
“When there’s distractions, which is in every sport, in all facets of life -- there’s always going to be distractions. It’s how you handle them,” Nagy said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com. “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.”
Quarterback Andy Dalton, who had a solid day in relief of Justin Fields (ribs), was equally pragmatic.
“I think that, like I said, there’s a lot that has gone on,” Dalton said. “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.”
The win, the team’s first since October 10, moved the Bears to 4-7 and ended a five-game losing streak. They have plenty of work to do to get back in the playoff chase, especially with upcoming games against the Cardinals, Packers, and Vikings -- twice.
For now, they won’t have to endure the ultimate distraction of an in-season coaching change. It’s possible that Tuesday’s report prompted the Bears to change their plans. It’s possible that the implementation has simply been delayed. It’s possible that the report was flat-out incorrect. Regardless, Nagy got a win under real adversity, and he and the Bears deserve credit for that.