ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky has been pretty outspoken about the Bears offense and Mitch Trubisky in particular, but after Matt Nagy decided to replace Trubisky with Chase Daniel late in Week 11's loss to the Rams, Orlovsky let his criticism of the second-year coach fly.
“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 on Monday. “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.”
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Nagy's since confirmed his decision to replace Trubisky has nothing to do with his role as the Bears' starting quarterback moving forward and said Wednesday that he's encouraged by the back-to-back positive outings the former No. 2 pick overall has put on tape.
But Orlovsky isn't totally out of bounds, either. Trubisky said he suffered what was later diagnosed as a hip pointer late in the second quarter and managed to play through the pain and stiffness throughout most of the second half.
“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.”
Trubisky has six weeks remaining in the 2019 season to cement his status as the starter for at least one more season or begin 2020 as the first-stringer, at least. But some of the attention down the stretch has to shift to Nagy and his handling of the quarterback situation.
NFL
As important as it is to find the right quarterback, the Bears need a coach who can put him in the best situation to succeed, too.
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