One of the biggest games of Matt Nagy’s career might happen without him

Days after Matt Nagy took a positive coronavirus test on Monday, he began preparing incumbent head coach Chris Tabor for the possibility that he could lead at Soldier Field on Sunday. They went through a variety of hypothetical situations, ranging from working with assistant coaches and players to navigating 49ers game moments and thought patterns.

“Just different scenarios and different things so I can help him as much as possible,” Nagy said on Friday. “Some things he might not think about on game day.”

Nagy also began to prepare for one particular scenario: that one of the most important games of his Bears career might take place with him near Soldier Field.

The difference between the bears ’win and loss on Sunday is the gap between the 0.500 record and the three-game losing streak; in between, the Bears will take part in the playoffs during week 10, or if they also lose to the Steelers next week at their best, get stuck in another months-long free-fall.

The Bears have not yet lost to the team where they were favored. If this changes on Sunday, it could affect the length of the season – and Nagy’s job security by the end of it.

Nagy has held team meetings at Zoom this week and watched a training film, but he has been forced into quarantine until he can get a negative coronavirus test on consecutive days.

That’s enough for Sour Nagy’s sunny attitude.

“I don’t think frustration is a good word,” Nagy said. “I think you’re eager and want to be there with your friends. And that’s probably the biggest challenge when you’re going through this, is just making sure everyone is doing everything as well as they can. And talking about things there is easy [use] technology now to it …

“But you don’t have that feeling, do you? Because you’re not there.”

Task Force Coordinator Tabor said he was ready to lead the team on Sunday if needed.

“You’ve always been preparing for it all your life,” said Tabor, who last served as head coach in 2001 when he led NAIA Culver-Stockton for a year. “I’ve watched a lot of football games and thought things like that. So if it ever comes up, put yourself in a good position to help the team.

The irony is that after Nagy delegated the game call to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor after the loss of Week 3 to the Browns, he diligently learned in a personality-based coaching style. In the gloomy days after the defeat, Nagy gathered his offensive players and asked them for advice on renewing the game book.

The night before the Buccaneers game, Nagy held an emotional team meeting where he showed how much he cares and what he means to this team and how he wants to bring us together.

The Bears then lost 38-3.

Nagy has been saying for a whole month that not playing games allows him to be more in touch – from the quarterback to his defense – on game day. Instead of assembling the team this week, however, Nagy is separated from it.

Nagy remains in a loss situation. If the Bears win on Sunday without him, fans driving Nagy’s ouster will claim he’s unnecessary. If they disappear, the same people paint the Bears as a sinking ship without a leader.

At several points this week, Nagy described the possibility of Sunday’s absence as “weird,” “unique,” ​​and “weird.” And then he admitted he didn’t know what it would feel like to be the first Bears head coach to skip the game after Mike Ditka had a mild heart attack in 1988.

“I wish I could tell you,” he said, “but I have no idea what it’s going to be like.”

On Sunday, he might find out.