[jwplayer 2x51nG5k-ThvAeFxT]
There’s no topic more controversial than quarterback Mitchell Trubisky among Chicago Bears fans. Things have gotten to a point where you either still believe in him, you’re completely done with him or you’re simply hoping for the best — be it Trubisky succeeding or the Bears cutting the cord.
But let’s be clear, no one is rooting for Trubisky to fail. It’s more that they’ve been frustrated enough by Chicago’s history of poor quarterback play to expect more from the former second overall pick. Especially with the constant reminders that Ryan Pace passed on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.
You’d be remiss to believe there are Bears fans that dont’ want Trubisky to prove everyone wrong and become the player that Pace believed he would become and lead the Bears to a Super Bowl championship. But you can’t will something into existence. And three years into his career, it’s easy to see why many have become frustrated with Trubisky’s development.
Last season was supposed to the year that Trubisky put it all together and took the next step in his development. It wasn’t. Instead, he regressed to the point where Pace brought in Nick Foles to compete for the starting job.
The hope is that Trubisky will become a much better player this season, and that’s what his teammate Cordarrelle Patterson has already seen.
“He actually looks like a whole new player this year,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I see it in his eyes and everything. He’s got that fire in him. That’s what we need out of our quarterbacks, that competition, it brings the best out of everybody. I’m excited to see what him and Nick can do for that job.”
But it’s not Patterson that Trubisky needs to convince. It’s Matt Nagy, who isn’t as confident as Patterson just two padded practices into training camp.
“We don’t have enough right now,” Nagy told reporters Tuesday. “I wish I could tell you we had enough. But there’s just not enough with where we’re at. We need to see more. I can’t give you a fair statement or opinion with that.
“I’m excited to see some more team periods. Maybe a little more red zone, some two-minute, four-minute, situational football to truly say that. I’d ask for a little bit more time on that with him. But again, the mental side of it, decision-making, where he’s going — so far, so good. But we want to now continue to just see that get better and better to where we have 100 percent accuracy with that — with both quarterbacks. They’re both competing the right way. But I would say, realistically, we just need a little bit more time to be able to compare it to the last two years.”
Nagy’s hesitation is fair, especially as the Bears are coming off a disappointing season where their offense was one of the worst in the league. No, it wasn’t all on Trubisky. But Trubisky definitely contributed to the struggles.
And it’s not enough to wipe a slate clean with a new season to make someone believe. Nagy wants to see it. He wants to see if Trubisky can run this offense efficiently. He wants to see if Trubisky took his directions to better read a defense. He wants to be convinced that Trubisky gives the Bears the best chance to win. Obviously it’s not ideal going off just training camp practices, but it’s all they can go off at this point.
But one thing is perfectly clear. If Trubisky is the same player that he was last year, he’ll be looking for work elsewhere in 2021.
[vertical-gallery id=452710]
[lawrence-related id=452818,452813,452671,452711,452727]