So you’re telling me there’s a chance…
Training camp officially kicked off at Halas Hall for the Chicago Bears on Tuesday with Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace meeting with the media and Nagy happened to sidestep a direct answer to a big question: Could Justin Fields change the minds of the coaching staff if he goes out and crushes it? Nagy had this to say:
That would be awesome (if he goes out and crushes it). For Justin, for Andy, for Nick, their job is to go into this thing and….just dominate. And then for all of us, make it as hard as you possibly can at every position. We don’t even get into that part of it, we just say listen, go play ball, be the best you can be. Trust me, just like everyone here and in this city, I want Justin Fields to be electric. For us, we’re worried about today.
That’s a pretty winded answer without specifically saying no to that thought. On top of that response, Nagy also had this to say about Fields’ progression since being drafted:
What I can tell you is now that we’ve had three days of being together in rookie camp, I was really impressed with the way Justin came back from OTAs until these last three days coming in and out of the huddle and seeing things. You can see he did his homework…He came out and got every rep today. He took advantage of it.
It’s been reported previously that the Bears would give Justin Fields a significant amount of reps during the team’s three preseason games and that plan looks to have not changed heading into the thick of training camp. Fields is listed as the team’s QB2 on the depth chart and Nagy said that move was specifically made to get the Ohio State product more reps. Not only will Fields be getting more reps, Andy Dalton also appears to be in line for a healthy amount of snaps too. Nagy says his mindset has shifted towards being aggressive in preseason games because the coaching staff can better evaluate players.
Matt Nagy reiterated what he said this spring that he will be more “aggressive” using players in the preseason. Remember, the starters sat nearly all of the 2019 preseason. He was going to play guys last summer before preseason was wiped out by COVID.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) July 27, 2021
So there you have it, folks. Get ready for an aggressive preseason slate with what wasn’t defined as a quarterback battle in camp, but definitely sounds like a quarterback battle in camp with the way that Justin Fields has impressed the coaching staff so far. So when will the rookie QB start for the Bears? Only time will tell but we may be in for an exciting month of August.
Join the Bears conversation 24/7 on the ChiCitySports forums. Your home for everything Chicago Bears fandom and news.
For More Great Chicago Sports Content
Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
