As the Chicago Bears flipped the switch and ushered in the Mitch Trubisky era, both Trubisky and Mike Glennon – the quarterback he replaced – said the right things when meeting the media for the first time since the change was announced.
Trubisky says he’s ready and isn’t feeling the pressure of being the Bears’ franchise quarterback, while Glennon publicly shouldered the blame for the offense’s struggles even though he really didn’t have to go out of his way and do that.
Still, Glennon’s time in Chicago has been nothing short of a disappointment. Over at Bleacher Report, Brent Sobleski runs down each NFL team’s most disappointing player through four games … and lands on Glennon as the most obvious choice. Sobleski writes the Bears did everything to design an offense to work around Glennon’s shortcomings and limitations, but it wasn’t enough to get him or the offense on the right track.
Now, that responsibility falls on the talented right arm of Mr. Trubisky.
Despite being the biggest disappointment on a 1-3 team, Glennon says he will take his demotion like a pro, writes Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. Glennon realizes his sub-par play and eight turnovers in the last three games were critical in leading the Bears to demote him four his tenure with the team. But rather than make an emotional stand in the wake of his demotion, Glennon reacted with poise and professionalism. He’ll retain captain status and should still be expected to prepare to be ready to play at a moment’s notice. Because like Trubisky before him, Glennon is now one play away from entering the starting lineup.
Head coach John Fox weighed in on the situation with the assembled media at Halas Hall for the first time since making the decision. Fox said Glennon played well enough to win two games, he didn’t do that in the other two contests, and the turnovers turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. In a piece by Chris Emma of CBS Chicago in which Glennon maintains perspective upon demotion, Fox said this about Glennon: “Mike gave us everything he had. He prepared hard. Just after four games, it didn’t go quite as well as everybody wanted.”
As for the players on the field, they seem to be excited about the change that has occurred. Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that with all due respect that should go Glennon’s way, there is much to be excited about regarding Trubisky’s promotion. While receiver Josh Bellamy sees it as another day in the office, tight end Zach Miller said “I think change brings that in general. That’s not saying it’s because of one guy or the next. Everybody feels for Mike. [But] you get a change at that position, there’s going to be a new excitement around it.”
Miller has been the Bears’ best pass-catching tight end this year, and Pro Football Focus grades him as the 15th best player at his position. He has played 124 passing snaps this year, and was the second most-targeted pass catcher on the team. Perhaps a change at quarterback could result in a higher percentage of catches. Miller has hauled in just 65 percent of the passes thrown his way, which is down 8.6 percentage points from his last two seasons with the Bears.
Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks heard Danny Trevathan’s appeal on Tuesday and reduced his suspension to one game. However, Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith notes Trevathan has a supporter in ESPN’s Jon Gruden – who coached Brooks during his time in Tampa Bay. In Gruden’s eyes, the Bears linebacker made a great play. And while calling the hit “vicious” and saying he didn’t want to see anyone get hurt, Gruden noted how he cautioned ball carries going over the middle to be prepared for hard, bone-crunching hits. It’s a tough place to be because you simply can’t legislate big hits out of an inherently violent game, but I understand Gruden’s perspective as a former coach who isn’t that long removed from being in the league.
Trevathan missing just one game is a blessing for a Bears defense that has been inconsistent. He’ll be missed against a Minnesota Vikings team that will be trying some new things in the backfield with Latavius Murray in line to take over for Dalvin Cook, but will be back for the team’s game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6.
The Bears brought in safety Jordan Moore for a tryout, tweets Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Moore signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent from the University of Texas-San Antonio, but has been on the market since August.
After losing their top two running backs to injury in their win against the Bears, the Packers invited an undrafted free agent who spend much of the spring and summer in Bears camp. Running back Joel Bouagnon, a Northern Illinois University product, was among the players who worked out on Tuesday for Green Bay, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
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