For as long as they are together, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, head coach John Fox, and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains will be the three most important of the Chicago Bears rebuilding process, as far as on-field personnel is concerned. And outside of GM Ryan Pace, no two people at Halas Hall have more riding on the development and future success of Trubisky than his head coach and offensive coordinator.
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The Bears kicked off rookie mini-camp on Friday, and all three spoke to the media assembled at Halas Hall. Here are some of the highlights:
Expectations are obviously high for a player the Bears traded up to select with the second overall pick. “When I’m out there, they want to see me run the show,” Trubisky said on Friday. “It’s controlling the huddle, controlling the line of scrimmage, knowing my job and then just executing it to a ‘T.’ … I’m just going out there trying to be a presence for the guys around me and show them that I could potentially be the starter one day.” A motivated Trubisky added, “Everything I do, I do with a chip on my shoulder.”
Trubisky had some initial thoughts about the concepts of Loggains’ offense, describing it as a system that allows quarterbacks to get the ball out quickly and accurately, making good decisions and getting the ball to playmakers, adding that it fits his abilities. Of course, we don’t have much game film to study on Trubisky to analyze how valid his statement is … however, Trubisky was one of college football’s most accurate quarterbacks last season. So it’s fair to say an offense predicated on highlighting his best attribute is a step in the right direction. But it’s hard to go any further than that after just one practice.
Over at CBS Chicago, Chris Emma ushers in the Trubisky-Loggains Era with some of their post-practice thoughts. Loggains said he realizes the challenges that face him moving forward as he is tasked with bringing along an offense with what amounts to four new quarterbacks in the room, while also developing a top quarterback prospect. “We have to be really smart with our plan and how we practice,” Loggains told the media on Friday. For now, the focus is on Trubisky, who says he simply scratched the surface of his potential while at North Carolina. The No. 2 overall pick is the only one of the four quarterbacks on the Bears depth chart at rookie mini-camp.
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ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson has some video of Trubisky working on some fundamentals during the first practice session:
Dickerson also has some video from when Fox met the media, which you’ll want to check out. Now in his third year in Chicago, Fox is in the unique situation of leading a team with a developing top prospect quarterback waiting in the wings. One practice isn’t going to make or break Trubisky’s future, but Fox noted several positives. “We saw a lot of the reasons why we decided to pick him where we did. He’s very accurate, very smart, he’s got good football character as far as transferring things from the meeting room to the field and I think we saw that today.”
At least Trubisky knows his role right now. Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Trubisky was clear in noting that Mike Glennon is the team’s starter, adding that he has yet to meet the free agent signee, but the two have exchanged texts.
As for whether or not his college experience as a backup prepares him for his immediate future as a reserve behind Glennon (and possibly Mark Sanchez), Trubisky said: “It’s hard to say. I think what I went through is going to prepare me for whatever plan God has in store for me, and I’m just here to be the best teammate I can possibly be, get better everyday, and make sure the Bears organization is in the best shape possible.”
Finley also offers up an interesting anecdote with Loggains and former quarterback Jay Cutler. The two are close, and while Loggains expects Cutler to be critical and honest with his analysis of the Bears’ offense, he expects to hear it directly from Cutler – via a text message – before anyone else hears it. Loggains added he expects Cutler to be a “wonderful” television analyst.
Not to limit this to rookies at camp, the Bears’ head coach weighed in on wide receiver Kevin White – who only seems like he could still have rookie status because of how injuries have kept him off the playing field for most of the first two years of his career.
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