The most anticipated position battle in the city of Chicago officially began on Friday as Bears quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles met with the media. Both players, who reported for training camp this week, are striving to win the starting job and with no preseason games and a truncated offseason program, every rep counts.
Trubisky and Foles took different approaches to their respective meetings. Here are my five takeaways from what we heard on Friday afternoon.
1. Trubisky and Foles set two different tones
When listening to Trubisky and Foles answer questions from the media, you get the sense right away where each player’s mindset is at. Trubisky repeatedly stated he feels he’s the best player for the job and knows his teammates feel the same way. He’s edgier and doesn’t seem to want to be the backup. Foles, meanwhile, talked about how he felt “at home” in head coach Matt Nagy’s offense, but also said he’s willing to accept any role that’s given him as long as his team wins and that he wants to help Trubisky.
Speaking to media on Zoom video call, #Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky says condensed camp and no preseason games won't change his mindset: "Every day I show up I have to prove I'm the No. 1 guy for this team."
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) July 31, 2020
Nick Foles says he's not focused on "winning" QB competition, just playing his best.
"I'm not keeping secrets from Mitch. I want to help him…if he makes a great throw, I'll be right there to slap him five & they’ll probably have to sanitize our hands, but I'm going to do it."— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) July 31, 2020
Trubisky sounds like a man who knows all the pressure is on him. Foles sounds like someone who isn’t taking the situation too seriously. Neither approach is right or wrong as everyone has their different motivations. But it’s interesting to hear the difference in how each player speaks in this situation.
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