Matt Nagy promised that he would find ways to get his team juiced up for football when training camp started. He wouldn’t want to be a liar. One of the things that always fires up athletes is competition. The Chicago Bears have already set the stage with a series of loaded position groups where a lot of jobs are up for grabs. However, the head coach knew he needed something more. So he got a little creative.
One of the things he hinted at back in minicamps was finding a way to pit the offense and defense against each other with increased stakes. It first came in the form of the kicking battle. Two kickers would square off. Whoever missed first, the side of the ball they represented had to do extra up-downs. It would appear Nagy decided to modify that for training camp.
During certain periods of practice, he would send the team off the field except for the quarterback, a wide receiver, and a cornerback. If the pass connected for a big play, the defense would have to do up-downs. If the cornerback delivered a successful defense, then the offense would have to. This led to some spirited back and forth battles.
Matt Nagy understands the Bears are family but families fight
Sibling rivalry is the best way to describe what Nagy is doing. He wants the Bears as a team to be like a family. The closer the bond, the harder they play for each other. That said, in order to make this family better, he has to institute some rivalries between the children. Each one trying to outdo the other. It may get a bit spirited and physical at times, but the end result is making everybody more adept at winning football games.
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By the look of things, the Bears players aren’t opposed to it. Bragging rights are always a fun thing that helps make the long practices easier to handle. It also sharpens the mental edge for when the games arrive. Expect this to be a consistent theme for the rest of training camp. It will be interesting to see which side of the ball emerges victorious in total victories. The offense wants to show everybody they’re better than last year. This would be a good place to start showing that.
