NEWSLETTER
[UPDATE: Rumors about a QB switch are starting to percolate.]
If you believe the Chicago Bears need to make significant changes, you’re not alone:
“Obviously, we have to fix some things on our football team,” Head Coach John Fox said in his postgame press conference. “Not just the quarterback. Everybody wants to talk about the quarterback, but we’ve got more issues than quarterback.”
Fox saw what everyone saw on Thursday, and suggested that his team was “outcoached” and “outplayed in every area” during the Bears’ 35-14 loss against the Green Bay Packers. The head coach added that the Bears have a lot of work to do over the next 11 days, hinting the winds of change could be blowing at Halas Hall.
To be sure, Fox isn’t wrong when it comes to the Bears’ widespread problems. The team has deficiencies at skill positions on both sides of the ball, while injuries (and possibly even suspensions) are thinning out the roster. Then again, the same can be said about the Packers who were a team without four key starters entering Thursday night’s game. The difference between the two squads is that one has a quarterback who is so good he can mask his team’s issues, while the Bears hope the one sitting on the bench can be something similar at some point in the future.
If Fox truly wants to start at the top in his assessment of what needs to change, he should probably start with the quarterback position. Mike Glennon struggled out of the gates once again, committing three first-half turnovers, and completing just 5 of 9 passes for 53 yards and a 33.3 rating before the two-minute warning. Of course, one of those turnovers came about because of a poor Cody Whitehair snap that bounced off Glennon and onto the Packers’ side of the line of scrimmage.
Glennon finished 21 of 33 for 218 yards, one touchdown, 2 interceptions, and a 67.5 quarterback rating. And after four games, the quarterback with a reputation of having sound ball control has eight turnovers in four games.
“We need to make a lot of changes. We’ll evaluate everything,” Fox said. “We’ll look at everything and everybody, not just the quarterback position.” But quarterback might be a good place to start.
If you recall, we recently took at what might be the right time to finally deploy the rookie QB, and one of our favorite options was Week 5 against the Vikings. Here’s what I had to say at the time:
Eleven days will pass between the Bears’ Thursday Night Football game against the Packers and their Monday Night tilt against the Vikings. And that’s precisely the kind of schedule quirk that could provide Trubisky enough time to get up to speed with the first-team offense, should the Bears go this route.
Given 1) how rough last night was for Glennon (again), 2) the amount of preparation time between this and the next game, and 3) the fact that the Bears are returning to Soldier Field, Week 5 could present the perfect opportunity to turn the page and start the Trubisky era with a clean slate at home. On top of that, after four straight starts, I don’t think anyone can ding the Bears for “not giving Glennon a chance,” to the extent that was ever going to be an issue.
So, no, we don’t know exactly when Trubisky is coming, but the time seems to be getting closer and closer. We are officially on an Obsessive Trubisky Watch, my friends, so get ready.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.
