Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s struggles this season can be traced back to a single game: The season opener against the Packers, where the third-year QB was quickly brought down to Earth with his abysmal performance.
It’s hard to forget Packers cornerback Tramon Williams’ jab at Trubisky, where he insisted Trubisky couldn’t beat them from the pocket.
“We wanted to make Mitch play quarterback,” Williams said following that Sept. 5 game. “We knew they had a lot of weapons. We knew they were dangerous. But we knew if we could make Mitch play quarterback that we’d have a chance.”
It was a statement that, while insulting, housed some truth. Trubisky has had an uneven season — with more bad than good. For the first nine weeks, it was frustrating at times to watch him — the decision-making, the horrible accuracy, the nine yards of offense in the first half against the Eagles in Week 9.
Trubisky told reporters Wednesday that he hadn’t heard about Williams’ remarks until it was brought up in the moment. But he’s going to remember that heading into Sunday’s game in Green Bay.
“I got enough motivation from the outside and I guess that’s even more motivation,” Trubisky said. “I didn’t hear that. I don’t really care.”
Listening to Trubisky in his postgame press conference after the season opener, he looked and sounded like a broken man. The confidence he’d built in the offseason dashed with a single game. It’s taken months for Trubisky to rediscover that confidence.
But now, he’s playing his best football of the season. Trubisky is coming off two impressive games against the Lions and Cowboys — where he’s thrown for 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and completed 75% of his passes — and he’s strung together five overall strong performances.
So as Trubisky prepares for a rematch against the defense that embarrassed him back in September, he’s feeling confident that he can play better than in the first meeting.
“I didn’t play the way I wanted to [in] the first game — that’s fairly obvious,” said Trubisky, who completed 25-of-45 passes for 228 yards and an interception. “So for him to say something about it — I mean, that’s just an obvious statement, I guess. I want to play better. Got a great opportunity to do that this week.”
It’s been three months since the Bears and Packers last played, and there’s been a lot that’s transpired for both teams — the good, the bad and the ugly. But these aren’t the same teams that met back in September. Just like Trubisky isn’t the same quarterback that looked lost against the Packers back in September.
As the Bears fight for their slim playoff hopes — which require a win against Green Bay — Trubisky is fighting for something else, as well. He’s fighting for his future in Chicago.
If Trubisky can play like he did against the Cowboys against the Packers on Sunday, it’ll be another step in Trubisky’s maturation.
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