The Chicago Bears won’t have anything to play for in their regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. They were eliminated from playoff contention two weeks ago, and they’re left playing for pride heading into an important offseason.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for in regards to the future. While Matt Nagy didn’t opt to give more of his young players an opportunity to get some valuable reps last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s exactly what could happen this week against the Vikings.
“Being able to go win the game is important to us,” Nagy said. “It does also, at the same time, present some opportunities … knowing kind of where they’re at and where we’re at. We’ll see where that takes us. I want to be smart about it. But at the same time if there is somebody we can get a chance to see, we want to be able to do that as well.”
Players like rookie offensive lineman Alex Bars, rookie receiver Riley Ridley, cornerback Kevin Toliver, linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and running back Ryan Nall are just some of the names that the Bears should play against the Vikings.
While Nagy insists that the goal is to go out and win on Sunday, he wouldn’t rule out resting some starters and giving opportunities to some younger players. But Week 17 is different from the preseason where starters are rested to avoid injuries.
“The end of the year versus the start of the year, is probably the biggest thing,” Nagy said. “Again, there’s some things that we’ll take into account as we go through this. But the main objective for our players and for our coaches is to go there and try to win the football game — even regardless of their situation.”
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