Nagy to miss Sunday’s game vs. 49ers

Bears coach remains in COVID-19 protocol after testing positive on Monday

Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy will not be available for Sunday game against the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field as he remains in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.

TheBears announced that news Saturday morning, leaving special teams coordinator Chris Tabor to serve as the interim head coach until Nagy’s return.

Nagy tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and has been away from the team since, though he has been participating in meetings via Zoom while monitoring practice through a live stream from an undisclosed location. On Wednesday, Nagy declined to say where he was working from during his quarantine period. On Friday, he also declined to say whether he has experienced symptoms.

Nagy did acknowledge he was starting to wrap his brain around the possibility he wouldn’t be on the sideline Sunday afternoon and wasn’t sure from where he would watch the game.

“I have no idea what it will be like,” Nagy said. “If that is the case, it is strange. Because you’re a part of all of the Zoom meetings and the communication that goes on hour by hour throughout the week. So it will be unique if I’m not there.”

The Bears have been dealing with a COVID-19 surge the last weeks. Six players have been moved to the reserve/COVID-19 list at some point since Oct. 14, while Nagy, receivers coach Mike Furrey and another support staff member also tested positive this month.

On the plus side, outside linebacker Robert Quinn, inside linebacker Caleb Johnson and offensive tackle Elijah Wilkinson all were removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. Damien Williams was also activated back to the 53-man roster on Oct. 23. And Furrey returned to practice three days earlier.

That leaves tight end Jimmy Graham as the only active Bears player currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list. In addition, offensive tackle Germain Ifedi, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury, also tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

Nagy’s absence, however, is the most significant, forcing the Bears to adapt with how they’ll handle their in-game operations.

During his usual weekly news conference Thursday, Tabor said Nagy’s physical absence from practices hadn’t really had a major impact on the Bears’ preparation.

“With regards to getting the meat and potatoes done, that hasn’t changed,” Tabor said. “Everything to me is normal.”

Still, it won’t be normal for Nagy to be missing from the sideline on game day. That will heap added responsibilities onto Tabor’s plate. Asked Thursday how significantly things would change for him if he needed to take over Nagy’s role, Tabor shrugged.

“I haven’t given that a lot of thought,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you, from our last game, we’ve got a lot of issues we’ve got to clean up in our own area. I understand the question. If that comes up we have a plan and that will be executed. But right now — I know it’s a cheap answer for you — I’m just worried about today’s practice.”

Nagy indicated Friday that he would have more extensive communication with Tabor to prepare him for a heightened role Sunday.

“We’ve been discussing throughout the week just the different scenarios and different things so I can help him out as much as possible,” Nagy said. “It’s just some things he might not think of on game day — whether it’s with the coaches, whether it’s with the players or the mindset of anything game situation-wise that we want to do going into this particular game.”