Nagy denies report George McCaskey told him to start Fields originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
When Matt Nagy spoke to the media on Friday, he was on a mission to address rumors and reports that have been surrounding him and the Bears. Among them was Hub Arkush’s report that the decision to name Justin Fields the starter for Week 5 and beyond came from team chairman George McCaskey, and went against Nagy’s wishes.
When asked if he would do anything differently in regards to how he handled the QB situation, Nagy went out of his way to bring up the aforementioned report.
“You know there's been some false stuff out there,” Nagy said. “That couldn't be further from the, furthest from the truth.”
After the press conference, Arkush stood by his report and his sources.
Nagy infamously named Dalton the team’s starter before the draft, then doubled down on that at the outset of training camp. He ruled out any chance of Fields winning the job over the summer, drawing criticism from media and fans alike.
Dalton started the first two games of the season, but exited midway through Week 2 with an injury, forcing Fields into the starting lineup. But Nagy maintained that when healthy, Dalton was the starter.
Here was Nagy on the Monday before Week 5’s game against the Raiders:
“Like we said this whole time, when Andy’s healthy, when he’s healthy, he’s our starter. He’s the 1. Justin’s the 2. Nick’s the 3.”
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But on Wednesday of that week Dalton came off the injury report and returned to practice. And Nagy changed his tune:
“We’ve had some good conversations internally. It’s helped us in the last couple weeks. Continuing that process this week it’s led to making the decision to move with Justin as the starter. You know we’ve been patient with this. We’ve grown with him. We’re proud of Justin.”
For what it’s worth, Nagy said they’re sticking with Fields moving forward, using the same language as he did when he spoke about Dalton.
“When Justin is healthy he's the starter, so that keeps it pretty simple.”
