Winning or playing well in the NFL is hard. That’s why many players tend to venture into the realm of superstition. They believe if something they do different works during a week of play, the best thing to do would be to continue doing that. Mitch Trubisky is no different from those men. The Chicago Bears quarterback encountered his first real such moment this season during the win over Tampa Bay.
Up until that point, he’d played every game with standard wristbands on his arms along with the occasional glove on his left hand. In 15 games under that setup, he threw for nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Then a freak happenstance caused a minor wardrobe change. Against the Bucs, he was spotted wearing a navy blue half arm sleeve on his right forearm.
It was a curious change that had little explanation at the time. All anybody knew after that was they liked it because Trubisky dropped six touchdown passes on the day without an interception. It was a clinic of quarterback work and the first sign that he’s starting to figure the game out.
Did this mean he’d be wearing the sleeve moving forward? Better believe it.
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.@Mtrubisky10 addresses the talk of the town… the arm sleeve. pic.twitter.com/8TKkThPgLk
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 10, 2018
Mitch Trubisky isn’t fool enough to stop a good thing
The primary reason he wore the sleeve as he stated was due to a cut on his arm he wanted to cover up. However, there are also minor benefits to such things as well. Compression sleeves are said to be particularly good at improving blood circulation. That may sound overblown and pointless, but can anybody conclusively say it didn’t help?
Trubisky had struggled with his deep accuracy through the first three games of the season, over and underthrowing a lot of the passes. Then when dons the sleeve he’s almost perfect throwing downfield against Tampa Bay. While improved mechanics had a lot to do with that, it’s possible improved circulation in that right arm may have kept it loose.
Theories aside, it’s a fun little story that might gain serious traction if Trubisky performs well against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. As if the return of the orange jerseys weren’t enough.
