The Bears beat
the Chiefs 27-20 in an exhibition game Saturday, and I guess that’s a good
thing. What really struck me, though, is
that head coach Matt Nagy decided not to play most of his regulars, even though
there are only two weeks to go before the season opener.
Nagy explained
that he was happy with how his starters performed in practice. As someone who coached his daughter in baseball
and attended numerous softball practices, let me just say, Huh? Who gets ready for the season by practicing
rather than playing? Football players,
that’s who.
Just imagine
what would happen if Joe Maddon or Rick Renteria took the same approach to
spring training, with the likes of Anthony Rizzo and Jose Abreu missing upwards
to half the games because they did so well in fielding drills and batting
practice; fans and sports’ media would be up in arms. Even those last few games before the start of
the season (in March, my God!) features a bunch of starters in the lineup given
that clubs are basically carrying only three players on their benches nowadays. Football is an entirely different creature.
In spring training,
practice is practice, separate from playing.
In preseason camp, practice is everything, playing not so much. Go figure.
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