Mitch Trubisky has been picked on quite a lot lately. Not just by the usual suspects in the national media either. Several local beat writers are annoyed by his reportedly “up-and-down” training camp. The issue is for every great play Trubisky has made in practices since training camp began in July, there have been some bad ones to match them. Specifically a fair number of interceptions.
It has led to a growing concern that Trubisky isn’t taking the big step forward some are hoping for. This despite constant assurances from head coach Matt Nagy that his young quarterback is far ahead of where he was at this time last year. Specifically in regards to his ability to read defenses. Not to mention the revelation that Trubisky was told specifically by the coaches to take more risks with the ball in practice. The idea being to see what they could and couldn’t get away with.
People haven’t wanted to hear it though. They expect and demand perfection from him despite the fact he’s practicing against the best defense in the NFL. Care for an idea of what that means? Here’s a great piece of information revealed by Adam Jahns of The Athletic. It details the quarterback rating of every quarterback they faced in 2018.
See if you notice an interesting trend.
Week 1: Aaron Rodgers, 103.7*
Week 2: Russell Wilson, 86.1
Week 3: Sam Bradford, 89.0; Josh Rosen, 31.5
Week 4: Jameis Winston, 74.0; Ryan Fitzpatrick. 49.8
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: Brock Osweiler, 94.9
Week 7: Tom Brady, 108.2
Week 8: Sam Darnold, 75.8
Week 9: Nathan Peterman, 45.3
Week 10: Matthew Stafford, 74.9*
Week 11: Kirk Cousins, 76.5*
Week 12: Stafford, 67.4*
Week 13: Eli Manning, 65.2
Week 14: Jared Goff, 19.1
Week 15: Rodgers, 68.9
Week 16: Nick Mullens, 65.8
Week 17: Cousins, 79.4
Playoffs: Nick Foles, 77.7 *
Mitch Trubisky has to face a lethally adaptable defense every day
Last season showcased not only how good the Bears defense was, but also how adaptable they were. They played threw quarterbacks twice in 2018. Each time those QBs played a worse game than the previous time. Now some will argue that Cousins actually had a higher passer rating the second time. However, keep this in mind. In the second meeting, Cousins threw for only 132 yards. That was 130 fewer than the previous meeting. He also completed 4.61% fewer of his passes. So while the rating may have been higher, that doesn’t mean he actually played better. This is what Trubisky has to contend with every day.
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Simply playing against a talented defense is one thing. Playing against a talented and smart defense is quite another. People don’t realize how intelligent this group is. Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan, Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, and Eddie Jackson are all noted for their leadership and work ethics. They can read what offenses want to do pre-snap as quarterbacks do to defenses. That is why it’s so hard to have success against them.
Asking Mitch Trubisky to play near-perfect in those conditions is totally unrealistic. Not every defense he’ll face this year is as good as this one. In fact, none of them may be. This is why it’s important to wait until a few weeks into the actual season before it becomes safe to pass judgment on his progress.
