Mitch Trubisky is in a complicated situation. He’s the unquestioned Chicago Bears starter. That is not going to change this year. Nor should it. He earned the right to have another season with how well he played in 2018. However, his performance against Green Bay in the opener raised plenty of concerns. A guy who was entering his third year as a pro looked like he did back when he was a rookie. Once again on primetime against a good opponent, Trubisky looked overmatched.
More concerns were raised after the game. Trubisky looked as dispirited as he ever has since arriving in Chicago. A few days later it was revealed he’d been advised by the Bears PR staff to avoid answering questions about the game. That sends a clear signal they are worried about his confidence. Was he shaken that badly by the performance? It’s possible. One longtime Bears insider in Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly was taken aback by the entire thing. He said as much during his recent article.
Asked today if he was worried about facing Vic Fangio this Sunday because of how well he knows Mitch and the Bears offense, Trubisky replied, “We gotta mix it up a little bit.
“You gotta do some things that he won’t expect, and just try to keep him off balance. I think if all 11 guys in our offense are doing our jobs, then the game’s going to go the way that we want it.
“We want to dictate the tempo, how they’re reacting to us and just do things that he won’t expect, necessarily.”
Maybe I’m overthinking this but does that sound like the answer you’d expect from one of the less experienced 25-year old quarterbacks in the league, or something he heard his coach say?
Pushing me further down this path is there were two different occasions today during his 12 minutes with the media when Trubisky looked to a team staff member before answering questions.
I can’t remember ever seeing that from a Bears player before.
Bears are not letting Mitch Trubisky just play
More than anything Trubisky didn’t look like he was comfortable all night. He wasn’t playing loose and seemed trying to do too much at times. It didn’t help that the play calling by Matt Nagy was out of whack and the offensive line was struggling. However, Arkush believes part of the problem is the Bears are trying to turn the young quarterback into what they envision a quarterback should be rather than what Trubisky actually is.
Clearly it is field generalship everyone is looking for from him now, and I can’t escape the feeling after observing him today that maybe instead of constantly picking apart what he needs to learn, what he needs to do better to take the next step, maybe it’s just time to let Mitch be Mitch?
Nagy and Ryan Pace talk constantly about the culture they’ve built and are building, and the two things Nagy preaches more than anything are “the game is supposed to be fun — we have to have fun,” and of course, “be you!”…
…Is it possible a big part of that is Nagy and company are so focused on conjuring up a franchise quarterback in their quarterback lab that Trubisky isn’t being allowed to “be you?”
It’s an interesting point.
In other words, perhaps it’s time for the Bears to accept reality. Trubisky may never be what they envisioned. That doesn’t mean he’s a lost cause. It means Nagy may have to refine his system to accentuate what his quarterback does best. That may leave sections of the playbook undiscovered, but it gives the offense its best chance to function properly. The team proved last year they can win with Trubisky. Maybe someday the light will go on for him.
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Until then, sticking with the “bread and butter” stuff is in their best interests.
