Chicago Bears: One Game From 2017 Still Angers Mitch Trubisky

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky is a guy who has no trouble finding motivation. He’s not stupid. He hears the critics each and every day.

It’s been that way since college. He remembers having to sit three years on the bench waiting for his turn. Then when he achieved his goal of being a top NFL draft pick, he remembers all those experts stating they felt he was over-drafted. He was too inexperienced and didn’t warrant the risk of being taken that high. Nevermind the Bears giving up multiple draft picks to trade up for him.

One would think all that would be plenty of juice to drive Trubisky’s engine. Nope. This kid is insatiable when it comes self-motivation. He’s always reading books on how to be a better leader. He strikes up conversations with other quarterbacks who’ve been through what he’s experiencing. On top of all that, he keeps his personal angers from last season simmering beneath the surface.

Trubisky is a team guy. He’s never going to speak out during a game or season that he has a problem with something. However, when the opportunity arises as it did during a Sports Illustrated interview, he couldn’t help but give vent to his frustrations from 2017.

Panthers game was a low point for Trubisky as a rookie

One would think a victory as a rookie quarterback, no matter how it came about would be a happy occasion. It turns out that Trubisky isn’t quite so easily satisfied. While he was glad the team won, he felt he didn’t do nearly enough in that game to help. Or rather he wasn’t given enough chances by the coaching staff, who allowed him to throw just seven passes the entire game.

"“People remember that Panthers game because I only threw seven passes and we won with two defensive touchdowns. But I wouldn’t let any one game represent who I am. That game definitely doesn’t represent me because I am a gunslinger, I want to throw the ball around 30, 40, 50 times a game. Us not throwing it, and the play calls, that is out of my control. I just handled it as best as I could. At the end of the day, for us, a win is a win.It was a sour taste in our mouth on offense, because we felt like we didn’t do our job to help our defense enough, but they played so well that we were still able to come out with a win. You want to win and the goal is to win and you gotta do whatever you gotta do for your team, and the defense just carried us that game, but obviously as an offense you want to help out your defense a lot more.”"

One can understand his feelings. Trubisky had spent his entire high school and college years as a starter being the focal point of the offense. He wanted the ball in his hands because he knew he could do something with it. At North Carolina, he averaged well over 30 passes a game. To be asked by the coaches to throw just seven because they fear him turning the ball over? That must’ve been difficult to stomach.

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Though it was never caught on camera, one can surmise Trubisky pumped his fist when Fox and most of the offensive staff was fired back in January. The arrival of Matt Nagy might finally allow him to play the game his way. A far cry from that miserable Sunday last October.