It’s a new season but offensive line woes continue for the Chicago Bears with injuries and uncertainty mainly at the tackle position. Free agent veteran Mitchell Schwartz was someone the Bears could have possibly signed to add experience and depth to the offensive line after the injury bug has bitten them in the preseason.
Mitchell Schwartz was released by the Chiefs after appearing in only six games in the 2020 season, but underwent back surgery in February of 2021 and appears to be ready and willing to compete for a starting position again. He recently posted workout videos showcasing his recovery.
After comments from Matt Nagy following a 41-15 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills, Mitchell Schwartz took to Twitter to criticize his offensive coordinator and now Chicago Bears head coach.
If you’re not able to evaluate them after a month of camp, 3 preseason games, and another few weeks of practice then I don’t know what to tell you. This tells his team that any camp “competition” was useless and their preconceived depth chart is what they’ll stick to, not merit. https://t.co/IjFzT0i0fR
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) August 21, 2021
Hard to imagine Mitchell Schwartz in a Chicago Bears uniform after criticism
Chicago Bears fans will be quick to point out that with the current offensive line woes, it might not be the best time to start a rookie quarterback that many believe to be the face of the franchise. Schwartz replied to a comment along those lines pointing out that a Week 1 Sunday Night Football game against a very tough Los Angeles defense in Los Angeles is not an ideal time to start your rookie quarterback.
And that’s ok if that’s the goal. But the way he goes about it needs fixing. It’s a direct quote: “we need to see him in the regular season.” Just don’t say stuff like that. The implication is that you can’t scout him properly through an entire training camp, which is ridiculous.
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) August 22, 2021
Schwartz nailed his reply to this one. There are multiple reasons to not start Justin Fields this season, let alone Week 1. That being said, the head coach claiming that he hadn’t had enough time to evaluate his starting quarterback is not a good reason to not start Fields. This is, at worst, another nail in the coffin for a head coach that many believe is trying to save his job this season.
At best, it’s a poorly worded statement that indicates (right or wrong) that Matt Nagy has no idea what he is doing. Either way, a veteran free agent tackle that could help the Bears with their current offensive line woes has made it very clear that he has no interest in playing for Nagy. That alone should be enough to give even the staunchest Matt Nagy supporters pause and opens the troubled head coach up to even more criticism from those that already want to see him gone.