Matt Nagy Most Interested in His QB's Decisions

There are specific things to watch in Sunday night's Bears game with the Kansas City Chiefs and being erased from the playoff chase doesn't erase these.

One is how Akiem Hicks does. He is questionable for the game with his left elbow in a brace still but coach Matt Nagy referred Friday to this as "managing thing" and expects he'll play.

There's also watching cornerback Kevin Toliver's progress because it appears he'll see either extended time again or all of the snaps due to Prince Amukamara's hamstring injury. Amukamara is questionable, so Toliver will be involved in covering Chiefs speed burner Tareek Hill.

Finally, and most importantly, there is watching quarterback Mitchell Trubisky's decision-making skills. It is the quality Nagy most wants to observe in the final two games.

"The biggest thing with me at the quarterback position is real simple," Nagy said. "It comes down to decision-making. A lot of these guys in this league, we all have talent, and a lot of guys have talent. But I think the separator, the one that separates people is through decision-making.

"So the next couple games, just keeping an eye on how his decision-making continues to grow, puts us in good spots. And then if there's a play that's not perfect, how do we keep it from being a bad play. He's been growing with that and I think that's the key these next two games."

It's not something necessarily measured by statistics and Nagy said it's something they've kept an eye on all along.

"What I would say is the first several weeks, the first half of the season, it wasn't that there was bad decision-making throughout, there was a lot of things that went into the struggles with offense," Nagy said. "But there were some times that Mitch would tell you and that I would tell you that all collectively together that there might be a play that he wished he had back.

"And some of it is don't make a bad play worse, or just don't force this throw or that throw, or sometimes it's on a run play. It might be a certain kill package that we have when you're not supposed to kill it. But he's been doing a really good job at limiting that."

It is here where Nagy said the steady, incremental improvement has been evident.

"It's hard to be perfect," Nagy said. "There's a lot of decisions, a lot of things that go into playing quarterback."

Calling the play, getting the team in and out of the huddle and reading the defense all are part of it, Nagy said.

"The easiest part of playing quarterback is actually making the throw," Nagy said. "There's a lot of stuff that goes before that. So that's what we're trying to continue to see him grow in."

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