Bears Chairman Pushes Back Against Matt Nagy Firing Report

The Bears have never fired a coach in-season, and chairman George McCaskey is the latest to offer pushback on a report suggesting such a move was on tap.

In a meeting with players and coaches Wednesday, McCaskey said there is no truth to the report Matt Nagy will be fired after the team’s Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit, Dan Pompei of The Athletic tweets. This comes after a subsequent report indicated Nagy did not convey confidence about his rest-of-season status to the players.

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While Nagy is undoubtedly on thin ice and almost certainly will not be back with the Bears next season, franchise precedent and the McCaskey comments point to the team keeping the fourth-year HC beyond Thanksgiving. A loss to the winless Lions, however, may change things for Bears ownership.

Losers of five straight for a second consecutive season, the Bears are 3-7 and again are having extensive issues on offense. They rank 31st in total offense, despite a two-pronged offseason effort to upgrade the quarterback position. Andy Dalton is set to start in place of an injured Justin Fields against the Lions. Among qualified QBs, Fields ranks last in QBR.

Nagy handed off play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor for a second straight season, but the pivot has not been as effective this year. As far as possible interim options, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor has been an NFL staffer since 2008 — including two Bears stints. Ex-Browns HC Mike Pettine is the only other staffer with head coaching experience, though he arrived only this year and serves as a senior defensive assistant alongside first-year DC Sean Desai in Chicago.

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