There was a curious moment during Monday night’s Bears/Rams game, one of those things where your ears perk up and you hit rewind on the DVR to make sure you heard everything correctly.

It was the 4th quarter, with 4:41 on the clock, Bears down 24-10, when Brian Griese revealed a portion of a pre-game conversation that he probably should have kept off the record, or used without direct attribution:

That sounds pretty concerning, the way Griese explains it. Sounds like the quarterback is throwing the head coach under the bus and suggesting that he doesn’t have a good grasp of what plays to call and when to call them. Not sure how you interpret that, but to me it sounds more like a veiled criticism of the offensive line, steered towards the head coach and play caller, who can remedy the situation by tweaking the play book. Foles is not a mobile quarterback, unlike Mitch Trubisky, who started the season under center.

Foles later clarified his comments, saying this after the game (via Jim Reineking USA Today):

“That was definitely a miscommunication with Brian and I. We do these pregame conversations the day before the game just to give them information. Coach Nagy and I have great conversations on the sidelines. So, there might be times we go through it beforehand and say ‘what do you think?’ And there’s times you got to get the ball out quick and whatnot. But, in those situations, Matt and I have a great relationship on the sideline with conversations and everything. I think in that situation with Brian it was a miscommunication of words. That’s not what I was trying to bring across in that conversation.

When Coach Nagy and I talk on the sidelines, we’ll go through plays and different situations and go through the defense. I’ll be honest, like, ‘hey, right now, maybe get the ball out quicker. They’re bringing some pressures and whatnot.’ Part of that was, ‘Hey, maybe we don’t have the time right now for this type of drop because of what they’re bringing, the pressures they’re bringing.’ It’s easier with that to go, ‘hey, 1, 2, 3 ball out.’

“That’s where the miscommunication (with Griese) lies. Those are actually conversations Coach Nagy and I have on the sidelines so that when we go to the field we’re ready to roll. I think that’s a valuable relationship I have with him, to be able to talk like that and understand specifically for me to talk about each game is its own entity so you have to understand how to play it in the appropriate way.”

Nagy was also asked about the comments and said that he has a good relationship with Foles, so there doesn’t seem to be any sort of greater issue here. It just seems like the coach and QB need to get in sync and figure out how to make Foles successful behind an offensive line that isn’t very good.

Oddly enough, and I’m not sure if you remember this from a few weeks ago, but there was some foreshadowing during a prior game that suggested that Foles and Nagy weren’t totally on the same page:

That’s very demonstrative from Nick, but it doesn’t appear to be contentious at all. It would seem, from afar, that both guys like each other, they just need to find the same wavelength from which to operate.

Ironically, this is similar to the situation the Eagles had when Foles stepped up in 2017, after Carson Wentz tore his ACL. The game plan and the play calling changed, and the ball was coming out quicker with RPO and other mechanisms because Nick wasn’t the same type of QB that Wentz was. The Eagles were successful with their tweaks, and maybe Nagy should just go through the 2017 film and steal a few ideas for his Bears team. Nagy and Pederson both come from the Andy Reid coaching tree, so their offenses do stem from the same West Coast type of philosophy.

And one of the things Foles supporters always said, during the incessant arguing over the Birds’ QB spot, is that he had a positive and undefinable relationship and understanding with the Eagles staff that he just did not seem to have at his other NFL stops. Jacksonville didn’t work out. St. Louis didn’t work out, etc. They pointed to the idea that Foles matched up very well with Doug Pederson from a philosophical standpoint, and based on this episode with Nagy, you’d have to say it lends credence to one of the primary arguments presented from Nick’s Philly supporters.