This NFL offseason is unlike any other in the storied 100 years of the league. While the Chicago Bears would’ve normally gathered at Halas Hall at this time, they’ve had to conduct their offseason programs virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, which isn’t exactly ideal.
It’s something that has been a learning experience for Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who’s had to adjust to this new reality.
“You can take everything we’ve done in prior years and you can just throw it out the window,” Nagy told reporters Friday, via ChicagoBears.com.
The Bears recently conducted rookie minicamp, which looked a lot different than in the past, which has been both a negative and a positive. Typically, the rookies would gather at Halas Hall, where the Bears coaching staff would get a look at them on the football field. That’s not possible this year, so, instead, it’s allowed a more detailed teaching of the playbook that Nagy hopes benefits these rookies.
“Obviously, you’re not on the football field,” Nagy said. “So what we’re trying to do now is say, ‘OK, when we’re teaching the plays and the playbook to these players, is it more important to do a lot and see what they can digest right now? [Or] is it more important—the whole less-is-more thing, [to focus on] the quality and productiveness of the plays that you teach them?’
“We’re detailing the plays right now like we’ve never detailed before. We have time to do that. And I think what this has done is it’s forced us to kind of automatically pull back and realize that you have to use your time in different ways. The players have been really good with that.”
One of the benefits of conducting this virtual offseason program has been the increased individual instruction from position coaches, which has been lacking in the past. This has allowed coaches to focus on the details with individual players.
“The one thing that we came out of the last couple years as coaches is, we felt like as individual position coaches there probably wasn’t enough individual time with the players,” Nagy said. “What can happen is you can get caught up in doing so much installations and teach them plays as a group that the position coaches miss the details of their own teaching of their players. We were going to do it already, but this has really forced us to do individual teaching or coaching.”
While Nagy has been all business during this virtual offseason, he’s also kept things fresh with virtual sessions called “coffee shops,” which allow players and coaches to talk about life outside of football.
Nagy has also brought in several guest speakers to talk to players and coaches, some of which were Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers.
The NFL has gradually begun to reopen facilities on Tuesday — in conjunction with state mandates — but we’re still a ways off from things returning to normal. Until then, the Bears and the other 31 clubs will continue to navigate their offseason programs virtually until they can get back on the practice field, hopefully in time for training camp.
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