Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy – Rams-Bears Postgame Quotes – Nov. 17, 2019
(Opening Remarks)
“All right, as far as getting started here, obviously a disappointing loss for us. It’s a game that had nothing to do with effort – our guys played hard, but just in the end – seven points isn’t enough. You’ve got to score more points than that to win, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
(On his decision at the end to regarding Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky)
“Yeah, it was all based off of, he just wasn’t feeling right. His hip was hurting him. We knew it a few series earlier that something wasn’t right. We watched him kind of just to keep an eye on him and see how it was. I had to pull him aside and talk to him, and just ask him, and say exactly that we needed him to be honest with us. Trying to play through that is was what he was doing, and at the same time it was affecting a little bit of how he was able to throw. I don’t want to put him in more risk, and I also don’t want to affect how the play is for the team.”
(On if they ever saw Trubisky go in the tent to be tended to by athletic trainers)
“No, he didn’t. He just had an earlier deal where he landed on it and he was playing through it. (Quarterbacks) Coach (Dave) ‘Rags’ (Ragone), our quarterback coach – he mentioned telling me that we had to keep an eye on him, and so that’s what I started doing. Then we kept an eye on him. I think it was probably one or two series that he went through with it, and then I finally pulled him aside. I said, ‘Listen, here’s the deal – we’ve got to know and you’ve got to be honest with us as to where you’re at.’ It was hard for him to say that. It was really hard. But he told me exactly how he felt, and then I made the decision to put (Bears QB) Chase (Daniel) in there at that time.”
(On if he would have made the same decision to take Trubisky out of the game had the game been a closer)
“Yeah, same decision.”
(On if Trubisky felt his injury in the third quarter)
“I’ve got to find out more because I didn’t find out the details yet from him – exactly the play that it happened. But, I just know that it was affecting him and he wasn’t saying anything to me, he was playing through it. I’ll find out more later.”
(On if he has any positive takeaways from his team’s offensive play today)
“Well, we had the drive there to start the third quarter, which I thought we were effective. We made plays and we got first downs. We had good first-down execution. Early on in the first half, we were trying to get the run game going just a little bit – and it takes time – but we just weren’t churning out the yards on first and second down in the run game. That’s a credit to them, they’re a good defense. That was probably the one good drive that we had, but we need more of those.”
(On if he felt the need to tell his team that Trubisky was taken out of the game due to an injury rather than his play of the field)
“No, I didn’t get into it. It just all happened. We’re trying to prep for two-minute at the end to try to go down, so I didn’t even say one word. The guys know when they see Chase (Daniel) warming up, they just figure that something’s up.”
(On his concern level moving forward with Trubisky long-term considering an ongoing shoulder injury and today’s injury)
“I don’t know. We’ll have to find out more here…We have to see how serious it is – number one. And so, we’ll do that here when we get back and find out exactly where he’s at. But I just appreciate Mitch’s – his toughness. You appreciate that. The kid did not want to come out, but at the same time we had to know exactly what was going on.”
(On what he noticed about his throwing that indicated that he may be injured)
“I think I noticed a little bit throwing to the left – like with his hip when he was trying to open his hip to throw. That’s when you could feel it, and he ended up with what we felt – and I think what you’re going to see – is he started throwing with all arms and not a lot of legs. And, you torque with your hips, and that’s what we felt.”
(On his hopes to climb out of a 4-6 record)
“We’re so focused right now on just trying to win and get better this next week. We understand that the only thing we can control is us. So, we’ve just got to focus on next week – and that’s number one. I thought the defense played really well tonight, and then you know – again towards the end – they’re out there on the field awhile – and we’ve just got to score more than seven points.”
(On his decision to not kick a field goal in the first quarter)
“Yeah, there are sometimes in there when – we missed two tonight – so, some of that is exactly where you’re at. It’s kind of a feel of where you think you are field position wise, and then the play that you have. So, that was just the route we went, and we want to be able to make those field goals.”
(On having confidence in long field goal attempts)
“You want to see field goals made. We all want to see that, he knows that. We’ve got to, again, we’re in a game like this and it’s a defensive battle. Points are at a premium, you want to be able to make those kicks. I kind of look at it too, to start the game, we’ve been struggling with drives getting going. We finally got a couple first downs and now, it might now sound great, but we were in a position to kick a field goal to start the game and we missed it. Those are the ones that I really wish we could have.”
(On if they explore other options for kickers)
“No, no. I mean, no. For us, we look at us and I think with Eddy (Piñero), he knows you’ve got to make those.”
(On what was supposed to happen in the play that went third-and-short and he had the option to go left)
“What was supposed to happen was we were supposed to get to first, we didn’t. It was a good play by them. We had a kill on the play. Mitch(ell) (Trubisky) made the right decision and sometimes you have those plays. That’s certainly one that I look back at it and wish that we could have back. There’s a couple of those per game but those guys did everything we asked them to.”
(On if there was example in Miami where they the hip was bothering him (Eddy Piñero)
“I don’t think so. I’ve got to find out more details as to the ‘when’ part. But for the most part, I don’t think that effected it.”
(On what happened with the other third-and-1 in the second half where he spread the offense out and it looked like he wanted the ball to go to Bears RB Tarik Cohen, but the ball was thrown to the ground)
“I was blocked. I couldn’t see from up top, I think they jumped the flat. That was one too that I was keeping an eye on with him rolling to the left with his hip and dirted it. I don’t know, I’ve got to see it.”
(On if he wanted the flat on that play)
“Yeah, we were trying to throw to the flat.”
(On how he absorbs the reality of where the team is at in the season now)
“It’s been challenging. These type of games, these close games, we want to come out on top and we haven’t done that. I really look just, in general, just offensively, I know that we have the pieces and everything. We just haven’t had that one game where it’s just been four quarters of just fireworks. It just hasn’t happened. We as a team, this is where we’ll get truly tested when we get back into the facility and see where guys are at.”
(On if he’s questioning some of the things that he thought coming into the season about his team)
“No, I’m not. No, I have all the trust in our guys and they’re fighters and they care. We’re all in this for the right reasons. They work so hard and it’s tough. We’re going through one of those tough deals so we want to try to be better.”
(On clarifying when he started to watch Mitch’s hip)
“It was probably two series before we actually did it. Right in that area, just to keep an eye on him. We’re rolling with personnel’s and moving in and out. I’m asking too for guys (coaches) to keep an eye on him.”
(On if it’s his left hip)
“I think so. I haven’t even talked to him yet. I said a quick note to the team and I’m in here with y’all. So I haven’t talked, I haven’t done any of that.”
(On the receivers and how everything was synced up in the passing game)
“I thought that at times, we could have been a little bit better there at that position. There’s a lot that goes into it and there’s sometimes too that they make good plays. (CB Jalen) Ramsey made a good play on that third-down to Taylor Gabriel where Taylor brought it in. As he was coming down to bring it in they knocked it out. Sometimes there’s good players that make better plays. Again, I don’t ever want to question their effort. I love our guys, I love how they fight and how they battle. It’s just one of those games for us.”
(On if he saw drops from receivers and WR Allen Robinson II on a slant)
“Yeah, he had the one. But, again, I feel like in those situations, we haven’t had many of those so it’s hard to criticize guys, especially a guy like ‘A. Rob’ (Allen Robinson). He normally comes down with those.”
(On what he thought of the two turnovers they gave in the first half and if they could have been sparks)
“That’s the sudden change. That’s where you get the sudden change and you get the interception, you get the fumble early on. You got to turn that into touchdowns, right? You have to. Then, you go ahead and you jump up 14-0 and now you’re playing. We just haven’t done that. That’s where I think we just all have to try to figure out what’s the ‘why’ behind it. Well, here we are into whatever week. That’s the challenge as a leader is making sure that we dig into that.”