NEWSLETTER
In case you missed it, the NFL arranged to host a Colin Kaepernick showcase tryout in Atlanta on Saturday, marking the beginning to his comeback trail. Each of the league’s 32 teams has been invited to attend the 32-year-old quarterback’s workout, and a number of teams should be making the trip down to Georgia to check out what Kaepernick has in the tank.
We just don’t know if the Chicago Bears will be one of them.
Matt Nagy said he's unsure whether the Bears will have representatives at the Colin Kaepernick workout Saturday. He is leaving that to Ryan Pace, who is not available for comment.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) November 13, 2019
Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy told reporters at Halas Hall that he did not know if the team was sending representatives to see Kaepernick’s workout, per Chris Emma of 670 The Score. Nagy went on to further deflect the question, adding that he was leaving that decision to GM Ryan Pace and his crew of scouts and other front office members. But as Emma points out in the tweet above, Pace was unavailable for comment and isn’t often easily accessible during game weeks.
But for what it’s worth, Nagy was quite complimentary of the ex-49ers quarterback:
#Bears coach Matt Nagy says he's focused on #Rams and not on Colin Kaepernick. But he said of Kaepernick: "He's been out of the game a little bit. But when we was doing well and playing he was definitely a weapon."
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) November 13, 2019
Nagy isn’t the only coach who isn’t clued into what his front office’s plans are for the Kaepernick workout. Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett said he didn’t know if his team would send a representative to Atlanta to see Kaepernick, tweets Jon Machota of The Athletic. In a similar vein, Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh also was unsure if his team would be represented at the workout, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
To be clear, there is no reason not to be in Atlanta to see Kaepernick’s workout. Quarterback is the most important position in the game, if not all of professional sports. There are only 32 starters and about 64 quarterbacks in the league. So to *NOT* attend the workout of one who was successful in the league would easily be classified at negligent (and that goes double, given the Bears present situation). Indeed, with all the rumors about Mitch Trubisky’s future and the numerous suitable replacements that have popped up in recent weeks, it shouldn’t be a matter of *IF* the Bears send someone, but who will go.
Among the many disheartening things that popped up in the must-read piece of the year we linked to that highlighted the process that led the Bears to draft Trubisky instead Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes, it was GM Ryan Pace not doing his due diligence with Watson (evidenced by the two sides not having dinner as they did with Mahomes or Trubisky) might have been among the most bothersome things. Not seeing what Kaepernick has left in the tank would be doing a similar disservice and it would be damning to make the same mistake twice.
This isn’t to say Kaepernick would be some sort of savior for this 2019 season, but somebody has to be there for the Bears … right?
