Everything You Need To Know About Ryan Pace & Matt Nagy's End Of The Year Press Conference

There’s alot to unpack from yesterday’s presser with Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. I’m going to do my best to put it in bullet format, but my apologies if I miss anything. I don’t know how those courthouse transcribers are so fast. My fingers were blistering 20 minutes in. I’d also like to note that these quotes were as close to what they said as possible as I couldn’t find a complete transcribed version with word for word quotes. Nevertheless, I’d never make up bullshit, and will give you the gist of what happened.

My commentary is in bold:

Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy love each other, and the Chicago Bears

I’m still not completely over the depressing way that the season ended, but boy did this press conference help. The enthusiasm that these two have for the franchise, and one another would make fucking Eeyore run through a brick wall. Pace said that Nagy’s the perfect head coach for this franchise while continuing to reiterate that he will upgrade this roster at any cost.

Cody Parkey is as good as gone

The quote of Nagy saying that Parkey going on the TODAY show was a “me move instead of a we move” is the soundbite that’s getting all the headlines, but the real one should be Ryan Pace saying that kicker will be a position of emphasis, and that he understands they need to get better at the position. It sounded like at the bare minimum Parkey will have to compete for a job, but I’d put the odds of him even making it to training camp at like 5%. Pace didn’t back down on the guaranteed money question either. He said that the main thing that matters to him is performance over everything else.

To make a long story short: There’s pretty much a zero percent chance that Cody Parkey is the Chicago Bears kicker for the 2019-2020 season.

Nagy hired Chuck Pagano because he trusts him

The second year head coach praised Pagano’s aggressive, attacking style saying that the two of them have a solid plan on how to move forward with this defense. Pace went on to say how great of a person/talent evaluator Pagano was, and how he understands that it’s going to be a mix of his defensive scheme while playing to the strengths of the personnel on the roster.

Ed Donatell was addressed where they said that he had a good interview, and that there’s still a possibility of him coming back next season.

Kareem Hunt is possibly on the table…but he’s also possibly not on the table

I don’t want to misquote any of this as it’s an extremely sensitive situation, and the absolute last thing I would ever want to do is to put our Head Coach and General Manager in shitty situation by spreading fake news.

The gist of it was that Nagy and Hunt have talked, but that it was more about him as a person rather than as a player. He had no issues coaching him as he was always on time for film/meetings, but he (Hunt) has alot to take care internally. Nagy said that he believes in second chances, but not third chances, and that there are no plans to bring him in at this time.

Nagy and Pace expressed concern for the victim multiple times.

I don’t know how to feel about this, but my gut says that there’s no way the McCaskey’s allow it after the Ray McDonald fiasco. We’ll see how it plays out.

Notes from the playoff game

– Trey Burton woke up Saturday with inflammation in his groin area, and it did not subside. They were kind of mum about the anxiety issue, but said they weren’t concerned about it.

– Nagy was asked about Tarik Cohen only getting 4 touches, and he said that it was really just an issue of checkdowns/not enough opportunities. He then said that if we (the fans/media) think he doesn’t want to get Tarik Cohen the ball then we’re crazy.”

Notes regarding the 2019-2020 season

– Anthony Miller will undergo shoulder surgery

– Nagy was happy with how Mitch conquered the one step at a time mentality, and that now it’s about him recognizing pre-snap coverages

– Nagy on Jordan Howard – “Everyone talks about the run game, and how it wasn’t as good as it should be, and I agree…I’m excited to get together and evaluate.”

– Pace on Bryce Callahan – “Bryce has gotten better and better. He’s on the right track with his recovery…we know he’s a free agent, we like him, but we have a lot to figure out.”

– Leonard Floyd’s 5th year option will be picked up

– No decision has been made on the 14 unrestricted free agents (The Bears have give or take $20 million in cap space headed into next year)

– The Bears had the fewest players on IR in the NFL. Pace talked about how they felt their approach helped with this as they focused on signing tough conditioned players, switching up practice regimes, and stronger treatment. He admits that alot of it is good fortune though.

– Nagy on Kyle Long – “Kyle had a unique year…I was proud with how he handled it both mentally and physically.”

– Ryan Pace on if he feels good about the price they paid for Khalil Mack- “100 percent”

Expanded thoughts on this can be found on today’s Red Line Radio:

Bear Down