It’s taken awhile but the Chicago Bears’ quarterback battle between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles is finally getting underway with the start of training camp. With NFL teams forced to conduct their offseason virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it postponed the start of the competition until camp.
Although with the lack of an offseason and cancellation of preseason, there aren’t a whole lot of reps for Matt Nagy to go off when ultimately deciding the starter. While Trubisky is coming off a disappointing season, he certainly benefits from experience with the personnel. Foles’ first reps with Chicago’s skill position players will come during training camp, where every rep will be judged.
Our Bears Wire staff shares their thoughts on whether Trubisky or Foles has an advantage entering Chicago’s anticipated QB battle.
Alyssa: Mitchell Trubisky
Nick Foles was the safe choice entering the offseason, but that might have changed after an entirely virtual offseason kept these players off the practice field. Foles hasn’t had an opportunity to work with these Bears skill position players while Trubisky already has developed a chemistry with most of them. Trubisky has been organizing offseason workouts with both returning and new offensive weapons, including receiver Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, running backs David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen, as well as new tight ends Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris. During those sessions, they worked on the different installs that Nagy was pushing out during the virtual offseason.
Given the lack of offseason reps and the cancellation of preseason, there’s no way Trubisky doesn’t have a slight edge in terms of familiarity with personnel. And when I say slight edge, I mean slight. There’s still a lot that he needs to prove on the field, even if it’s just training camp reps. But in this case, it might be the incumbent starter that gets the edge. Still, regardless of who wins the QB competition, I’m not convinced they hold the starting job for the entire season. The Bears won’t hesitate to replace the eventual starter if he struggles.