Bears Outdraw Cubs in TV Ratings, Trubisky’s Passing Grade, Earning Baller Status, and Other Bullets

It only took one game, but former Minnesota Vikings is a believer in Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky:

  • With the first-game jitters officially in the rear-view mirror, Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes the real challenges are just beginning for Trubisky. After an 11-day layoff to prepare for his first start, Trubisky and the Bears offense goes back to work on a short week for a road game against the Baltimore Ravens. Trubisky has five days to evaluate his mistakes, learn from Monday’s film, get through a week of practice reps, and tackle all of the responsibilities thrown at a starting quarterback. Welcome to the show, rookie.
  • Now that there’s some film on the rookie signal caller that isn’t from the preseason, it will be worth watching how teams adjust to Trubisky. From there, seeing how Trubisky reacts and responds will be the most notable thing that comes from Week 6.
  • Despite a lackluster showing in the box score, JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago writes Trubisky passed his first test as Bears quarterback. Stankevitz gave Trubisky a “B-” grade even after a 128-yard performance in which he completed just 12 of 25 passes because he showed an ability and willingness to read through his progressions, play with a sense of intensity we hadn’t seen in the prior four weeks, and bring the kind of intangibles you want to see from a rookie quarterback.
  • The numbers won’t show it, but Trubisky has earned “baller” status from his teammates despite the team’s loss on Monday Night Football. Around The NFL’s Kevin Patra writes the Bears are happy with Trubisky. “That’s Mitch being a baller and trying to make a play. And for me I’d like to get back and break that up for him,” said tight end Zach Miller regarding Trubisky’s interception-turned-teachable moment. Kendall Wright, who was Trubisky’s top target Monday, added: “He carries himself as a leader. I definitely think he’ll bounce back. He’s the type of guy that if he could, he’d try to go do something extra right now.”
  • While I’m #NotAScout, Greg Gabriel is a long-time scout and former Bears scouting director and he saw Trubisky flash the kind of talents franchise quarterbacks possess. Gabriel lauded Trubisky’s poise, demeanor, feel for the pocket when dealing with a pass rush, and – save for that back-breaking pick – made more good decisions than bad. This was just the start for Trubisky, but there is a lot to like moving forward if he can continue to build.
  • This is wild:
  • Trubisky Time garnered one heck of a turnout from television viewers. Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune reports that, on average, nearly one quarter of Chicago’s TV market watched the rookie’s debut Monday Night Football – outdrawing the Chicago Cubs who beat the Washington Nationals in Game 3 of the NLDS earlier in the day. The Cubs-Nationals early start helped fans avoid choosing between playoff baseball and the start of the Trubisky era. Then again, some of some of those viewers might have tuned into see the latest Star Wars trailer, as Rosenthal notes the national number hit a peak of 8.3 between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m. Who knew scheduling a football game during Star Wars would be a hit? Someone should have thought of this earlier.
  • Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times has details of Mike Ditka’s response after his comments claiming there have been no occurrences of oppression in the last 100 years. Ditka’s attempt to clarify his original statement came with a “sorry if anyone was offended” apology. A spokesman from the NFL helped the league distance themselves from Ditka’s claim, while the Bears have yet to issue any comment regarding the matter.
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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