It’s common knowledge that frustration is mounting at Halas Hall. People keep talking about ownership and their thoughts. People haven’t really stopped to wonder what the players are feeling about this unfolding nightmare. One position group that seems to be losing their patience is the wide receivers. Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, and Javon Wims each took turns liking tweets calling on them to leave Chicago for other teams.
Robinson has remained diplomatic in his comments since then. Miller? He kept it a little more real. Taking his turn to speak with the media on Friday, the questions that came were the usual fare. When it came time to respond about why the offense hasn’t been able to click though? That concealed frustration seemed to boil over, leading to a simple comment that had few words but damning accusations.
Ones that again point the finger at head coach Matt Nagy.
#Bears WR Anthony Miller on what needs to happen for this offense to get clicking:
"I think the plays that we practice and that we execute in practice all week, they need to be called when we get to the game on Sunday…
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) December 4, 2020
Nagy has taken some serious body blows in recent weeks regarding his offensive approach. Tight ends coach Clancy Barone opened Pandora’s box when he let it slip that the system they run doesn’t have any packages or designs for specific players on the roster. It’s all about the quarterback throwing to one side of the field or the other based on coverages.
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Then Juan Castillo piled on when he expressed confusion that the Bears went away from the run schemes that were working the first few weeks of the season after making the switch to Nick Foles at quarterback. A clear sign Nagy never wanted to run them in the first place. Despite them actually being productive. Now here Miller is basically saying the coaching staff abandons the game plan on Sundays with regularity.
Anthony Miller is just another symptom of a greater illness
The fact is Nagy isn’t what the Bears hoped he was. He’s not a true offensive guru. Yes, he can design some really nice plays that get guys open. Yet the job of a coach goes beyond that. It’s also about establishing an identity and getting guys to buy into it. It’s about getting 11 guys to execute consistently from snap to snap. That just hasn’t happened.
Nagy is too prone to going with his instincts. Too willing to abandon a plan at the first sign it’s not going as hoped. Worst of all he shows no ability to adjust the system to the players he has. It feels so rigid and inflexible. Hence why it becomes so easy for defenses to slow down and even stop for long periods of time.
Players can usually sense when something is off about such things.
Anthony Miller merely brought voice to those concerns. He seems to think the coaches aren’t backing up what they say. They do one set of things in practice all week then try doing another on gameday. No wonder they’re so confused and say, ‘but we had a great week of practice’ all the time. It appears there is a disconnect between the two that continues to hold this team back.
