While juicy storylines are often hard to come by in the NFL preseason, one that was on the forefront of everyone’s mind when the Bills and Bears faced off on Saturday was quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s return to the Windy City.
Once it was officially announced that Trubisky would start, many fans and media members alike coined the preseason Week 2 contest as a “revenge game” for the former Bears QB.
“It was different coming back here to Chicago,” Trubisky told reporters following the 41-15 Bills win. “Obviously cause I spent a lot of time here the last four years. It was awesome to see all the guys and coaches before the game, catching up with those guys… and then how supportive everyone in the Bills locker room was for me… I’m just really grateful to be a part of this team… it was a lot of fun today. We still got work to do and it just felt good to come back and perform well and play well at Soldier Field.”
Play well Trubisky did, even with most of the Bills starters sitting out of the exhibition contest. The QB finished 20-for-28 passing with 221 yards and a touchdown in his one half of play. He also tacked on a nice run for 11 yards.
“It feels good. It felt good to come back and play well,” Trubisky added. “I owe a whole lot of that to my teammates. Run after catch. Great plays on defense. Great plays on special teams. Dominated the field position… We did our job on offense and that’s to score points. I just thought we were efficient. I feel comfortable in the offense.”
While Trubisky remained diplomatic in most of his post-game press conference, it’s only human nature to assume doing it vs. your former team would be a tad bit sweeter.
“It felt good to do it against these guys,” Trubisky admitted. “But I’m also rooting for a lot of those guys on the other side and they’re still like family to me.”
While Trubisky has discussed recognizing the Bears organization lost faith in him even prior to not renewing his contract, the QB seems to not hold any grudges.
“I’ll be rooting for them this season and wish them well and just that everyone stays healthy,” Trubisky said.”It kind of felt like practice back in the day, just going against those guys, just talking a little smack and just having fun playing football. Just very grateful to be a part of this team and how everyone had my back today. We just went out an executed and made plays and got in the end zone. That’s all you can ask for.”
While football players often try to block out any outside noise, Trubisky was well aware this game was being billed as his moment of vengeance.
“I just wanted to play well. I think it was important for me to come out here and play well. Keep getting better week to week. I knew people would be talking about it and hyping it up, but it was just important for me to come out here and do my job and show my teammates that I can play ball,” he said.
One person that did admit they were impressed with Trubisky on the day was the man at the top, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott. He admitted that Trubisky was playing under quite different circumstances and came through.
“The guys were ready to play,” McDermott said via video conference. “It’s hard to do what he just did, whether it’s a preseason game or regular season game so soon after leaving (Chicago).”
One area that had been debated prior to today’s game was what sort of reception the QB would receive from the fans at Soldier Field upon his return. Some former teammates and Chicago media members had taken to social media prior to the game urging fans not to boo Trubisky. It appeared to work as it was mostly a warm reception for the signal caller.
“It was very welcoming and I’m very thankful for that,” Trubisky said. “I love the people of Chicago. The fans are as passionate as anyone out there and I’m grateful for the reception I received. It definitely felt good coming back here and it was nice to perform well today. I love the fans and the city of Chicago… I’m grateful for my journey and where I’m at and just how the guys supported me today and how we played in the first half. I am just super proud of that.”
While it was nice for Trubisky to come back and get the win vs. his old team, more importantly it was nice for the Bills to see they have a very capable backup option at QB, should anything happen to Josh Allen this season.
While the saying goes, “revenge is a dish best served cold,” Trubisky and the Bills were red hot in Chicago.
Revenge game complete.
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