They figure to hover over Halas Hall for the rest of the season, clearing only if the Bears go on a miraculous winning streak or Nagy gets fired while there are still games to play.
Also, you stay ahead of it by knowing, like I just said — not just us, but other players — there’s going to be more distractions.
On Thursday, general manager Ryan Pace told the team’s pregame show it wasn’t true.
Refuting a Tribune report that players found Nagy canceling late-afternoon meetings Tuesday to be bewildering, given that the coach had talked with his superiors earlier that day, Nagy blamed a scheduling error.
‘‘A lot in your head after going right from Sunday to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then playing Thursday,’’ tight end Cole Kmet said after the victory against the Lions.
For the first time, however, they have motivation: A new NFL rule allows teams to interview assistant coaches for head-coaching jobs in the last two weeks of the season.
If upcoming games against the first-place Cardinals and Packers go as expected, perhaps McCaskey would consider firing Nagy after the rivalry game, given the Bears would have eight days to prepare for a Monday game against the Vikings.
‘‘But the emotional side for me was in that locker room celebrating with the team because they showed me how much they cared.