Like he did after the game, Nagy on Monday afternoon stood by the Bears' terming of "personal reasons" as to why Smith was ruled inactive less than two hours before kickoff at Soldier Field. Smith was present with the Bears on the sidelines during the game but inactive and not in uniform.
"I'm just going to say it was a personal issue," Nagy said. "I'm not going to get into anything else. I'm going to keep it at that."
Related
Nagy declined to answer whether Smith is facing legal trouble or potential team discipline. He also wouldn't admit whether a return would be up to Smith or the Bears.
It's unclear how long Smith's absence will linger for the Bears. On Monday morning, Nagy didn't commit to Smith playing when the Bears face the Raiders in London on Sunday.
"We'll see," Nagy said in an interview on WBBM Newsradio. "We're still working through all that. We'll see where that goes."
The second-year linebacker Smith had never missed a game prior to Sunday. He posted 24 tackles over the Bears' first three contests.
With Smith out, the Bears turned to fourth-year linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, who had nine tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.
"I'm proud of the way he stepped up," fellow inside linebacker Danny Trevathan said of Kwiatkoski. "When he came in, I knew there was going to be no letdown, no letup."
Teammates like Trevathan also didn't have details of why Smith was unable to play.
"I don't know what's going on," Trevathan said. "Nobody knows. We're just here for him. I'm sure he'll be all right. He's a good dude. We just got to be here for him."