After an underwhelming quarterback competition, the Chicago Bears appear to have made their decision about who will be their starter when they open Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears are expected to announced Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback. Schefter notes the decision comes due to his progression, leadership and performance during camp.
In a competitive battle, Bears are expected to name Mitchell Trubisky the starting QB, source tells ESPN.
It’s due to his progression, leadership and overall performance throughout camp. Nick Foles made decision difficult for Matt Nagy, but the team feels strong about its QBs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2020
All offseason, head coach Matt Nagy preached an open and fair competition. But without the benefit of offseason and preseason reps, the battle was always going to be a little difficult in evaluating. The Bears had to get creative in their evaluation, where they graded every rep — everything from decision-making to accuracy to “situational football.”
“Both of these quarterbacks have done a good job at making it difficult,” Nagy told reporters Thursday.
The hope was that Trubisky or Nick Foles would make it easy on Nagy and his coaching staff. But neither Trubisky or Nick Foles managed to separate himself in a three-week long competition. While Nagy clearly would’ve liked to have seen more, he simply ran out of time.
“The longer that things string out, the harder it is for these quarterbacks, the harder it is for our team, and I think that has to carry some heavy weight as well,” Nagy said.
With the Bears declining his fifth-year option, Trubisky has one last chance to prove that he can be the answer in Chicago. But expect the leash to be short. Especially with a Super Bowl champion known for coming off the bench and succeeding just behind him.
The good news for Trubisky? He’ll be opening the season against the Lions, a team that he’s dominated in his last three outings. He completed 68 of 91 passes for 866 yards (74.2%), nine touchdowns and one interception for a quarterback rating of 132.6. Trubisky posted a QB rating above 100 in all three of those games.
Now whether Trubisky will survive an entire season remains to be seen. Especially with a short leash and a proven veteran sitting behind him. The Bears might’ve chosen a starter, but this quarterback competition is far from over.
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