The Chicago Bears have been eliminated from playoff contention for a few weeks now, and they’re essentially playing for pride at this point. Still, at this point of the season, it’s customary to get younger players some valuable reps with nothing on the line.
But when you’re a head coach who’s on the way out after this season, that’s not the case. Which has been one of the reasons why Bears fans have been frustrated with Matt Nagy and why they want him fired before season’s end.
Nagy hasn’t prioritized the younger players on this roster in the final month of what’s become a meaningless season for the duration.
Case in point: Nagy opted to start veteran and future Hall of Famer Jason Peters at left tackle over rookie Teven Jenkins, who has seen two games of action this season.
When Nagy was asked why Peters got the nod over Jenkins, his mindset was that of a head coach who won’t be in place beyond this season.
“This is a Hall of Fame player that’s been playing a long time and he battled his (expletive) off to get back here and play, and he did a great job,” Nagy said of Peters. “…We’re going to do what’s best for this team right now.”
While Peters has been one of Chicago’s best offensive linemen this season, at this point it’s about preparing for the future. Nothing against Peters, but the plan was always for Jenkins to get some reps. At least, it should’ve been.
It’s not much different from Nagy’s decision to go with Germain Ifedi at right tackle over rookie Larry Borom last week against the Seahawks, even as Borom proved to be better than Ifedi.
This week, it was Borom getting the starting nod at right tackle over Ifedi. Perhaps we’ll see something similar with Jenkins at left tackle when the Bears battle the Vikings next Sunday.