Nagy urges trubisky to ‘just be yourself’
Matt Nagy’s “Be You” mantra applies even when the Bears are 3-5 — and even when it looks as if quarterback Mitch Trubisky might not be having much fun.
“We want everybody to be able to let their personalities show,” the Bears’ coach said Friday. “When you have things happen the way that they have with us, sometimes as a younger player, younger person, younger coach, whoever you are, sometimes you can let that affect you. I don’t think that’s just [Trubisky]. That’s everybody, really. That’s really not just him.”
The Bears were cognizant enough of Trubisky’s body language that they had him watch the TV tape of their home loss to the Chargers to see how he could improve.
The key for all the players is “to make sure that you don’t try to be somebody else,” Nagy said.
“You just be yourself,” Nagy said. “What’s really been for all of us the biggest challenge is making sure that when all this stuff goes down, you realize that no matter what we’re doing, if you win, it hides a lot of stuff that we might be nitpicking at.”
Goldman improving
For the first time since hurting his thigh Sunday, nose tackle Eddie Goldman was a full participant in practice Friday. The Bears listed him as questionable for the Lions game.
“Eddie’s doing a lot better,” Nagy said. “Feel good about where he’s at.”
His return would help a unit that struggled against the run.
“He’s one of the guys on the team that probably makes a lot of plays that you don’t see that helps out others,” Nagy said. “Just because he’s in the trenches, but he’s a heck of a player.”
The Bears ruled out backup outside linebacker Isaiah Irving for a second straight week because of a quad injury. Defensive end Bilal Nichols was limited Friday because of a knee injury but will play.
The Lions ruled out defensive end Da’Shawn Hand (ankle) and safeties Miles Killebrew (concussion) and Tracy Walker (knee). Quarterback Matthew Stafford was among eight players listed as questionable, but he’s expected to play.
Matt on Montgomery
Count Lions coach Matt Patricia a fan of rookie running back David Montgomery. He called him a “really tough back” with “great balance, great vision” this week.
“He’s a big guy,” he said. “He gets through the hole. He has a real good ability to be very patient at the line of scrimmage. He lets a lot of those plays develop. He lets a lot of the holes open up. … Montgomery is doing a great job of being patient with those. And then once he gets through, he has burst, he has speed. He has a suddenness about him that’s really, really good. It’s really hard.
“You see a lot of veteran players that try to line him up and tackle him, and he just makes them miss. He’s got a real good ‘shoulder-head-dead-leg fake’ that he gives those guys, and a lot of times they miss completely.” ✶