Staley Da Bear
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- Mar 16, 2019
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UPDATE: The Bears paused all in-person activities at Halas Hall Thursday morning after another individual tested positive for COVID.
But according to an email sent out by the team at 11:42 a.m. (CT), they have been cleared to reopen the building and plan to conduct practice at 2:30 p.m.
The following story was posted after coach Matt Nagy spoke to the media and before the Bears were permitted to return to Halas Hall:
Coach Matt Nagy met with the media Thursday morning via Zoom—shortly after the Bears had announced that they were closing Halas Hall due to another positive COVID-19 test.
Nagy explained that the team chose to pause all in-person activities out of an abundance of caution.
"It's our decision to protect the players and the coaches, the staff and their families, and do what's best for the team," Nagy said.
The coach's comments came after the Bears had released the following statement:
"This morning we were notified that we had a positive COVID-19 test. As a result, the club has elected to pause all in-person football activities today and close Halas Hall. Instead, all meetings will be conducted virtually. The individual who tested positive has been contacted and has already begun self-isolation. We are working with the NFL medical experts to identify close contacts and follow the league's guidance. The health and safety of our team, players and staff are the highest priority."
The Bears took similar action Thursday, Nov. 5—after a player tested positive for COVID-19—and were able to return to Halas Hall and conduct practice the next day.
Nagy revealed that the Bears hope to be able to return to Halas Hall Thursday night to conduct a walk-through, but the situation remains fluid.
"There's a possibility of possibly having a short indoor walk-through tonight," Nagy said. "But we've just got to kind of see as things go, as they work through it, where that's going to be and if that's safe for our team."
Even if they are cleared to return to Halas Hall Thursday night, the Bears wouldn't hold a full practice.
"You don't want to have a late practice and then have an early morning practice tomorrow," Nagy said. "So we will balance that out and get them conditioned and stretched and all of that stuff. So what happens is that any of the [lost] reps we felt were significant timing-wise, specifically offensively, then we will sneak those in tomorrow's practice."
The Bears have placed three practice-squad players on the COVID-19 list this week: Defensive lineman LaCale London and linebacker Manti Te'o Monday and receiver Thomas Ives Tuesday. Nagy doesn't think that their cases are related to the individual who tested positive Thursday. But head trainer Andre Tucker is working with NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills on contact tracing.
"It takes time to try to figure out the answers," Nagy said. "For us, we realize that we've had a few positive cases last week, so we just felt like right now this is our decision to just say, 'You know what? Let's just hit the pause button for right now, literally by the hour. Let's just hit the pause button. Let's not put any of our players, coaches, staff at any type of risk.'
"What we want to do is just say, 'OK, let's stop. Let's reset here, and let's be smart. Let's put everybody's health and safety first.'
"Shoot, we've been doing Zoom meetings for weeks and weeks and really this whole season. Let's continue to stick with our meetings via Zoom. And once we get more information from Andre and they feel good and they have a plan, then we'll get right back to it."
Nagy indicated that he has not been part of any discussions about the possibility of postponing Sunday's home game against the Texans.
"That just hasn't come up," he said. "I think we're trying to get through this here. But that has not been brought up or talked about."
Nagy praised Bears players and coaches for the way they've handled schedule changes and other tumult that's resulted from COVID-19.
"Obviously, we're not exempt from this pandemic," Nagy said. "We all know that cases are on the rise. And I just want to credit our players and coaches for adapting and staying flexible. It's not easy. But we have the right mindset. I think that our guys showed that this morning with being able to adapt on short notice."