Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy sat his starters during the preseason. His decision has been considered a primary factor in the team's abysmal loss to the Green Bay Packers in the 2019 NFL season opener.

To say that the Bears looked rusty would be an understatement after they put up just three points in the loss. According to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, Nagy acknowledged the criticisms that have come with resting the starters:

“When I go ahead and make that decision to not play in the preseason like we did, I open myself to criticism for when you don’t play well. I get that,” Nagy said. “So that’s a fair question.”

Trubisky has since dispelled any notion that it had an effect on their performance in Week 1, via ESPN's Jeff Dickerson:

“I know you guys [the media] are going to try and draw comparisons like that, but really, the snaps in the preseason have nothing to do with the way we executed, or the sloppiness tonight,” Trubisky said. “We weren't doing that in practice. We were smooth in practice. … It just seemed a little scattered tonight with all of our personnels, and trying to find a rhythm and trying to find our identity on offense. We just put ourselves in bad situations and shot ourselves in the foot. You can maybe contribute it [to the lack of preseason action], but I think it's kind of a stretch.”

Whether sitting out the preseason was the primary reason for their lackluster outing, it is clear that some adjustments need to be made. The Bears' offense mustered just 254 yards after getting shut out the final three quarters of the game. Meanwhile, Trubisky completed just 26-of-45 passes for 228 yards and an interception.

If Chicago's struggles on offense continue, Matt Nagy will keep on having to answer for his decision. Although the Bears did not fare very well in their season opener, it remains to be seen if the other teams such as the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers also struggle after taking the same approach. Until then, there will continue to be plenty of speculation regarding the positives and negatives of sitting starters out of the preseason.