Matt Nagy was asked multiple direct questions Monday regarding why Roquan Smith was inactive for the Bears’ Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings, and deflected them all with a shield of his absence being “personal.”
Monday’s press conference at Halas Hall felt like the most evasive the second-year Bears coach has been at the podium regarding a specific subject. He acknowledged that evasiveness and said he understood why he was being asked so many direct questions about a murky situation. But he stuck by that refrain of leaving things as a personal issue for the 2018 first-round pick.
"I'm just gonna say it was a personal issue," Nagy said. "I'm not getting into anything else. I'm just gonna completely keep it at that."
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Specifically, Nagy was asked the following questions by members of the media:
— Is Smith involved in a legal matter?
— Is he facing any disciplinary action?
— When will the Bears decide if he’ll fly with the team to London Thursday night?
— Was it the Bears’ decision or Smith’s decision to not play Sunday?
— Does Nagy's deflecting of these questions indicate the situation is worse than it may seen?
— When did it come to your attention that Smith's status was in doubt Sunday?
All those questions were deflected by Nagy with him saying it’s a personal issue.
"I’m not getting into anything with Roquan," Nagy said.
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Nagy did say Smith's absence was a "decision we ended up making," which could fairly be interpreted as it was the Bears' call to hold Smith out, not the linebacker's.
But Nagy acknowledged that the tight-lipped approach he and the Bears are taking to Smith’s status will incite speculation, especially on social media. But he didn’t sound worried about what would be said about Smith outside the walls of Halas Hall without any concrete public information about what those “personal reasons” are.
"That’s all part of (the media) world and what people do," Nagy said. "Totally normal, that everything, with whatever the situation is, today’s social media and all that stuff, people can say different things. People want to be the first to do this or do that. But, I’m not concerned, no."
The Bears will hold their first practice this week on Wednesday, before which Nagy will hold his usual press conference and surely will be asked if he expects Smith to practice. Following practice, the Bears will release an injury report detailing participation in that day's practice.
As long as the Bears remain tight-lipped about Smith, those reports Wednesday may be our first glimpse into what Smith's status going forward will be.
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