Bears head coach Matt Nagy denied the franchise informed him he would be fired this weekend.
A report early Tuesday cited high-level team sources and said Nagy would be fired after the Bears play the Detroit Lions (0-9-1) on Thanksgiving Day.
The Bears (3-7) have lost five consecutive games and will start backup Andy Dalton at Ford Field against the winless Lions.
“That is not accurate,” Nagy said Tuesday, adding that he hasn’t talked to anyone in the organization about his job status.
There is clamoring for Nagy’s job from fans, however. During a high school playoff game in the far North Chicago suburbs, fans in Cary Grove (Ill.) broke into a “Fire Nagy” chant just as the capacity crowd at the United Center did during the Chicago Bulls-Indiana Pacers game on Monday.
Ownership and general manager Ryan Pace didn’t comment on the report, nor did it release any denial of the report of Nagy’s imminent firing. Nagy said he wasn’t expecting any outward vote of confidence as the Bears focus on the business of winning the holiday game.
“We all have our own decisions as to how we do things, and I think this whole entire time, for me and for ownership, we’ve had great communication. Again, it’s focused on Detroit. That’s what it is,” Nagy said.
A podcast Monday featuring Jordan Schultz, a media member who partnered with Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson on a previous basketball podcast, also spent time detailing how the locker room was anti-Nagy. Robinson said the commentary that “a majority” of the locker room wanted Nagy gone didn’t come from him.
“I haven’t had any input with that,” Robinson said. “I mean, me and him did a basketball podcast. Everything that we have from a podcast standpoint, relationship standpoint had been based on covering basketball and based on talking about basketball.”
A former offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, Nagy’s Bears have scored just 163 points this season. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans and Lions have scored fewer.
Nagy has two 8-8 seasons since going 12-4 and winning the NFC North in his first season as head coach in 2018.
“My focus is on these players and Detroit, and that’s it. That’s my job as a head coach and a leader, is to do that. These players have been amazing,” he said. “They’ve been great. You have this quick turnaround after a loss like (Sunday’s to the Ravens), and now here you go. The only thing we can do is focus on the now and do everything we can. Thursday is going to be here quickly.”
Following Thursday’s game, the Bears have 10 days to prepare to host the Arizona Cardinals (9-2) and then hit the road to play the Green Bay Packers (8-3) in Week 14.
–Field Level Media
