Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace indicate Cody Parkey to be kicked off Bears for 2019
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace met with the media on Monday for a season wrap-up after last week’s wild card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
And from the sounds of it, Cody Parkey has played his last game for the Bears. You might say he’ll be kicked off the team. (Sorry. Not really.)
‘That position is an emphasis’
Pace and Nagy were asked about Parkey and the appearance he made on NBC’s “Today” show last week several times, and it was clear neither man was happy with Parkey’s play this season or his being on “Today.”
“That position is an emphasis for us,” Pace said. “We understand we need to get better there, we need more production out of that position. Matt talks about it all the time: there’s so much parity in our league, so many close games, the kicker position is critical. We need to get better there.”
The Bears signed Parkey to a four-year, $15 million free agent contract last offseason; Parkey spent 2017 with the Miami Dolphins.
The 26-year-old missed seven of 30 field goal attempts and three extra points in the regular season. He missed a kick in the closing seconds of the loss to the Eagles that bounced off both the left upright and the crossbar; the next day, the NFL officially changed the scoring of the play, giving Philadelphia’s Treyvon Hester credit for blocking the kick.
Bears didn’t know about ‘Today’ show
Nagy said he met with all 65 players on the Bears’ roster for exit interviews, and when he met with Parkey, the kicker never mentioned that he would be on the “Today” show, though it is possible that it wasn’t planned or definite yet when Nagy and Parkey met.
“We had a good interview; it was not brought up at that time,” Nagy said.
‘It wasn’t a ‘we’ thing’
Asked his reaction to finding out Parkey had gone on the daily morning show, Nagy said, “For me, and you understand that we always talk about a ‘we’ and not a ‘me’ thing, and we always talk as a team, we win as a team, we lose as a team.
“And you know, I just didn’t necessarily think that was too much of a ‘we’ thing.”
Did you think it was inappropriate?, Nagy was asked.
“Again, I didn’t think it was much of a ‘we’ thing.”
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