George McCaskey Denies Firing Story

According to a report by Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Bears board chairman George McCaskey told players their coach was not being fired after Thursday's game.

USA Today

Matt Nagy's tenure as Bears coach will continue on until at least sometime in December, if not longer.

According to a report by Dan Pompei of the Athletic, team board chairman George McCaskey finally addressed a report by Patch.com claiming Nagy had been told he would be fired after Thursday's game against the Detroit Lions.

Pompei, a 2013 winner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Bill Nunn Award, cited an unnamed source who told him McCaskey talked to players and coaches on Wednesday, and said there was no truth to the original firing report.

The talk with the team came about a day too late to avoid distractions for their preparation to play the Lions. 

Players and coaches went about their press conferences on Tuesday at Halas Hall being asked constantly about the report and their effect, as it had become a hot topic of conversation throughout the Chicago area. Nothing was said by ownership either to deny it or validate it. Nor did general manager Ryan Pace make a statement. Not even a press release had been issued denying the story after the uproar resulted from it.

Nagy did deny the report in his noontime press conference and then later talked to his team before their second walk-through practice of the day but at that point he didn't address the topic with them, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune said he also canceled his meetings for the rest of the day after that talk.

The original report was on Patch.com and was written by Mark Konkol, a former Sun-Times news reporter who covered Chicago city hall.

The report cited a "top source," and said Nagy apparently was going along with the idea of coaching his last game knowing he'd be fired.

The Bears and Lions play at 11:30 a.m. on Fox in a rematch of the Oct. 3 game at Soldier Field won 24-14 by the Bears.

They don't play again until after Thanksgiving until hosting the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 5.

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