The Chicago Bears have done and are doing every single thing in their power to turn Mitch Trubisky around. They’ve simplified the offense. They’ve rearranged the system to include more play action and bootlegs with easier reads. Yet nothing seems to work. He continues to suffer from inconsistency and timidity. Granted, it’s not all his fault. His targets are dropping too many throws and the offensive line isn’t blocking well either.
However, some former players believe that is a symptom rather than a cause. Trubisky’s ineffective play is making more difficult for the rest of the team to summon the energy and will power to perform at a high level. No fewer than three former players agree that the Bears’ ongoing stance on their quarterback isn’t garnering much favor in the locker room. Damien Woody, Emmanuel Acho, and Domonique Foxworth all agreed that the team is playing with fire now.
Foxworth laid out exactly what they’re facing.
“When you don’t have confidence in that guy you feel like he’s killing (you), it’s hard to continue to prepare and play defense or play o-line or play other positions the way that you would need to. That type of stuff brings you down. Especially when you think that they’re getting special treatment. They see what we see. ‘Man, you got a hip pointer? You can play through a hip pointer. This is nonsense. We know that. Everybody’s trying to protect your feelings. We had to turn off TVs because of you.’ That hurts a team’s morale.”
Mitch Trubisky may not be so loved behind the scenes
To the credit of other Bears players, they’ve all spoken out in support and defense of Trubisky. There’s been no reported incidents aside from a players-only meeting a few weeks back. However, there are definite rumblings that a number of players in the locker room have reached a breaking point. They’re tired of having to prop up a quarterback who clearly doesn’t have it in their eyes. So what’s the point of putting their livelihoods on the line every Sunday if it won’t matter in the end because the QB can’t deliver?
Not every player will feel that way, but some of them will and that’s the problem. If only a handful of players take that course of action, the rest of the team will suffer for it. Soon sides will be taken. Those that support Trubisky and those that don’t think he’s got what it takes. As the losses pile up and the offense doesn’t pull its weight, this divide will grow larger under the Bears coaching staff and front office can’t control it anymore. It’s happened so many times before in the NFL that one can almost predict the sequence of events.
The only thing that can stop it is if Trubisky plays better or if the team finally decides to bench him.