Matt Nagy’s judgment has been called into question many times this season as he’s tried to make sense of his quarterback situation. Now, plenty of NFL fans and media members are questioning the Chicago Bears head coach’s thoughts on the NFL’s new taunting policy.
The NFL has decided to crack down on what it perceives as taunting this season and it’s led to some pretty brutal penalties. Perhaps none more egregious than the one a couple of weeks back when Bears defensive end Cassius Marsh was penalized after looking at the opposing sideline before returning to his own. On his way back, it appeared that the referee purposefully bumped into Marsh in order to justify the penalty flag. The play altered the outcome of the game, which the Bears eventually lost.
Bears coach Nagy was asked about the new taunting rules and, perhaps surprisingly, he said he was for them because he wants young kids watching the NFL to understand “doing things the right way.”
“People watch, and people want to see a little bit of respect and a little bit of doing things the right way,” Nagy said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, but there’s young kids right now that are watching games, and what happens is you go to one of these sporting events and you might see some imitation going on that’s taking it over the top. I’m a firm believer in respect and just kids growing and watching and we have a huge platform as leaders. Players and coaches. Let’s understand what the rules are, let’s do it the right way. Let’s still have fun — these guys are still having fun and not taunting. You can still have a great time. But let’s stay within the rules as we do it.”
While Nagy didn’t mention Marsh specifically, he seemed to imply that it’s his responsibility as a coach to teach his players, grown adults, how to go about their business.
“It’s our job to do it the right way,” Nagy said. “You’ve got to understand the rule. I need to do my job to teach that to the players so that they understand it, and understand these are the rules. We can’t change that.”
The problem is, of course, that referees and the NFL have been inconsistent in calling these penalties, so even if you learn how to “do things the right way,” it remains murky as to where the line is and what’s a penalty.
In the meantime, one thing that seemed clear was social media’s reaction to Nagy’s comments.
I think it's more harmful for children to watch Matt Nagy's offense. https://t.co/NZ0znz68f6
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) November 18, 2021
My kids …
"Dad, can they please fire Matt Nagy?! My eyes can't take it anymore." https://t.co/7U33Nek762
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) November 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/themitchellfink/status/1461385030949736452
He must not be on social media cause young kids go in 😂 https://t.co/wjr4JVqxoZ
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) November 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/Tony_Choppe/status/1461370222112387073
Nagy seems to be running out of fans in Chicago and around the league, and he certainly isn’t earning many with these comments. The Bears are in the midst of a five-game losing streak and if he can’t figure it out soon, he probably won’t have to worry about the kids seeing what his team does for much longer.
[PFT]
