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Like everyone else in Chicago and the football world, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky is confused as to the decision by Bears coach Matt Nagy to pull quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with less than four minutes remaining in a 10-point game against the Rams.
Nagy confirmed that Trubisky suffered a hip pointer at the end of the first half of Sunday’s game, and that the third-year quarterback attempted to play through it. And it looked like he would be able to do that when on the Bears’ opening possession of the second half, Trubisky orchestrated a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tarik Cohen. But as the game progressed, you could tell Trubisky wasn’t the same as he was in his solid first half.
“There were many moments this year where you could’ve justified, Mitch you’re not doing well, so we’re going to do something else,” Orlovsky said. “But late in a game — probably the most important moment of their season — they decide because Trubisky’s hip is bothering him, supposedly, and he can’t move around well enough, that Chase Daniel was the answer. Chase Daniel has had a long career as a backup quarterback. But it’s not like he’s moving around back there like Lamar (Jackson) or Russell Wilson.
“To make that decision, in that moment, it’s unfair to your team, it’s unfair to your quarterback, it’s another mismanagement of the position by Matt Nagy.”
Orlovsky points the finger not only at Nagy but general manager Ryan Pace, saying “they both have a hand in it.” But Orlovsky had words for Nagy about the handling of Trubisky this season.
“This is a coach that has not done anything that the kid does well,” Orlovsky said. “We’ve said that all season long. So for you, in that moment, to go, well, he couldn’t move because of his hip was hurting him and thinking it’s better for him to be on the bench and on the sideline than on the field because he can’t move and then to put Chase Daniel in.”
Nagy insists that if Trubisky is healthy for Sunday’s game against the Giants that he’s “absolutely” the starter.
We’ll see how things play out when the Bears hit the practice field for the first time Wednesday, where the starting quarterback is also expected to meet with the media.
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