More Rehash Shows Possible Bears Failure to Communicate

The Bears say they knew exactly what they were doing when they made the controversial decision to down the ball a yard or so back to set up Eddy Pineiro's missed game-winning field goal try from 41 yards Sunday against the L.A. Chargers. Conflicting stories afterward indicate otherwise.

First it was Eddy Pineiro, and on Wednesday it was Mitchell Trubisky.

The uproar over Matt Nagy choosing to down the football and make Pineiro try a 41-yard kick instead of one shorter in a 17-16 Bears loss to the L.A. Chargers Sunday continues to live on.

Pineiro added life to a dying story Tuesday by saying he would have preferred the ball be downed in the middle of the field.

On Wednesday, it was Trubisky saying he downed the ball where he was told to down it, on the left hash mark. 

All the while coach Matt Nagy was insisting the communication was good on the play between coaches and the Bears on the field.

So what exactly did coaches tell Trubisky?

"Kneel down on the left hash," Trubisky said. "So that's what we talked about."

And as we learned yesterday from Pineiro, that's not where he really wanted it.

"We have a communication process that we use," Nagy said. "We understand everything that just went on in this past game and he knows that we know it. 

"For us, we've moved on. That's something that we have a clear communication process, we used it, we've all talked about it and we're literally on to the Eagles for us."

But not quite yet. Nagy continued to talk about it.

"We just felt like in that situation where we were, we were good to go," Nagy said. "Eddy knows, and I think he said it, he's gonna make that kick. We all felt that. 

"There's a trust factor there, too. None of that got lost. We have ultimate trust that the next time that happens and we get in that situation, he’s gonna make it."

So the Bears better resolve whether he wants it from the left hash or the middle before the next time.

"For us, we’re just looking forward," Nagy said. "In our world, we try to do that 24-hour deal. We want to learn from things throughout the whole game, not just from one play, and then we move on. That’s what we’re doing."

On Monday, Nagy said he'd make the same decision "1,000 times" more.

He didn't say which hash mark he'd decide to down it on 1,000 more times.

Twitter@BearsOnMaven