When will the Chicago Bears start Mitch Trubisky? This is the overarching question that is the subject of every radio show, chat room and local city bar. Mike Glennon has floundered through two weeks in the starting job for the team. He failed to bring them back against the Falcons. Then he threw the game away against the Buccaneers with three bad turnovers. Fans have already seen enough.
Everything about Glennon’s game just isn’t working. His accuracy is erratic. His decision-making is puzzling at times. The inability to go for quick strikes down the field is also taking away what the Bears do best and that’s run the ball. Defenses are stacking the box with eight and even nine-man fronts. They have zero fear of Glennon trying to go deep because he doesn’t.
John Fox insisted that it’s impossible to evaluate a quarterback after just two games. Glennon needs more time to show whether he can or can’t do the job. All the while it doesn’t look like the schedule will comply as the Bears prepare to face the Steelers Sunday for a short turnaround to a Thursday Night game in Green Bay. Thus fans are left pondering. If not now then when?
Likely the Bears start Mitch Trubisky after Green Bay trip
Is there a chance Chicago can win one of the next two games? Sure. There’s always a change in the NFL. Will it happen though? Common sense says probably not. The Steelers are 2-0 to start the season and boast the kind of offensive firepower Glennon couldn’t hope to match with his conservative style. As for Green Bay they might be struggling but then tend to always find a way against the Bears.
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Thus in two weeks time Chicago could be 0-4. At that point there would be little reason to continue the farce of Glennon starting. Also it would be the a great time to start Trubisky. The Bears would not play their next game until the Monday after next. That means a layoff of 10 days before the Minnesota Vikings pay a visit to Soldier Field.
JJ Stankevitz of Comcast Sportsnet tends to agree, citing league history regarding rookie QBs.
“History shows you might want to circle Week 5 or Week 6 for Trubisky’s debut.
Since 1997, there have been 33 quarterbacks taken in the first 10 picks of that year’s NFL Draft (we’re using top 10 here as a rough cutoff point for drafting a guy expected to be the future of the franchise). Trubisky and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes haven’t played yet. Among the 31 quarterbacks who have played, three waited at least one year to make their first start (Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Jake Locker). Of the 28 remaining quarterbacks, there’s an even split: 14 started from Game 1 of their rookie year and 14 made their first starts sometime between Games 2 and 17.
Of those 14 quarterbacks who didn’t start immediately, they on average made their first start in their team’s sixth game of the season, which for the Bears would be Oct. 15’s trip to face the Baltimore Ravens. The median of that group is Week 5, which is the Bears’ home Monday night game against the Minnesota Vikings.”
Everything about that game lines up perfectly. It’s at home where crowd noise won’t be a huge factor. Also the 10-day lull will allow the Bears coaches maximum time to get Trubisky ready, using every practice rep available to get him on the same page with the starters. It’s the best window to drop the rookie into short of the bye week, which won’t come for another month after that.
