For the entirety of his career, Mitchell Trubisky will be compared to the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, the two quarterbacks selected after him in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Those comparisons will be even louder this week as the Chicago Bears host the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field, where Trubisky will face off against reigning MVP Mahomes, the quarterback still on the board when general manager Ryan Pace traded up one spot to draft Trubisky at No. 2.
While Mahomes and Watson, the third quarterback selected in the draft by the Houston Texans, have been lighting up the league over the last two years, Trubisky has been flashing inconsistency — those bright spots where he looks like he could be special and then those frustrating moments that are cause for concern.
But Trubisky insists he isn’t in competition with Mahomes or Watson — despite what the media says — he’s competing with himself.
“The comparisons are out there and they are never going to stop,” Trubisky said Wednesday. “It’s kind of me, Pat and Deshaun all grouped together because we were in the same draft class, drafted in the first round and all that. But there are no do-overs. We are where we are. Our careers are going on different paths and they will for the rest of time. And (we’ll) be compared against each other.
“It’s just the nature of the beast. But I’m in competition with myself and just trying to be the best version of me to go out there and win games for the Chicago Bears. It’s just something I can’t control.”
While Mahomes and Watson recently earned Pro Bowl honors and are headed to the postseason, Trubisky is fighting to save his future in Chicago after an up-and-down season.
“Don’t worry about that; it’s the Bears versus Chiefs,” coach Matt Nagy said. “That’s the easiest way (to approach it). The second you start getting into individual comparisons, whether it’s me and Coach (Andy Reid) or it’s the quarterbacks or it’s their D-linemen and our D-linemen … All that stuff? That’s trouble. That’s how I handle it.
“We don’t even talk about it. It’s important for our guys to worry about the unit. Otherwise, if you start worrying about the individual stuff, it doesn’t normally go too well.”
While Trubisky and Nagy insist that they’re not worried about individual comparisons, that’s not going to stop those comparisons from happening, especially this week.
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