Trubisky Owns Up To Error, Long’s Frustrations, Pro Bowl Voting Opens, Major CTE Update, and Other Bullets

Nov 16, 2017

Researches believe a recently published study confirms finding chronic traumatic encephalopathy – also known as CTE – in a living patient.

ESPN reports a study published in Neurosurgery this week found the presence of a protein called tau in 14 living retired NFL players through a brain scan. Following the death of former NFL player Fred McNeill in 2015, doctors confirmed the CTE diagnosis. In February 2016, a doctor who participated in this most recent study confirmed McNeill had been living with CTE.

This could possibly be a major development and we hope doctors continue to fight the good fight that is bigger than football.

Moving on to what’s happening with the local team…

One of the signs of a good leader is when they can look in the mirror and realize when they’ve made a terrible mistake. Mitch Trubisky is unproven, but he continues to make positive strides toward being the quarterback the Chicago Bears want him to be. One of the steps toward being considered a true leader is the admission of an error, which is what Trubisky did in owning up to a terrible sack taken in the third quarter of the team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 10 via Chris Emma of CBS Chicago. The Bears had the Packers fooled on a play action play where Trubisky rolled left and had a player open in the flat, but took a sack because he couldn’t elude one Packers defender.

In watching that play again, there are two things that stand out. First, it’s clear Trubisky needs to refine his footwork when rolling left. His feet never get to a place where he found himself comfortable enough to throw an accurate pass, which might have led to the hesitation, and ultimately a sack. Second, Trubisky might have been looking elsewhere to make a bigger play:

Dowell Loggains said Mitchell Trubisky committed a "cardinal sin" taking a sack on a bootleg on this play: https://t.co/vNOFe9OguC
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) November 15, 2017

JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago breaks down what might be Trubisky’s most egregious sack of the season. But as shown in the image above, Trubisky has an open receiver deep behind the Green Bay secondary. I’m not a mind-reader, but that’s probably the player Trubisky instinctively wants to hit in an attempt to get out from under the shadow of his own goal posts, into Packers territory, and possible even score a long touchdown if all goes well. Kudos to Trubisky for reading the field high-to-low and thinking about making that kind of play. That kind of thinking will serve him well moving forward, but he’ll also need to learn to take what is given to him when a simple throw can be made.

ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Dickerson writes about the looming decision regarding Kyle Long’s immediate playing future. Long was limited in practice on Wednesday and hadn’t been a full participant since the days leading up to the team’s Week 8 game against the New Orleans Saints … until Thursday’s practice. Long was a full-go at practice, which lines him up to return against the Lions on Sunday.

Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes this injury plagued year for Long has been frustrating for a player who who has worked himself back from ankle surgery and a shoulder injury that nagged him in 2016. Based on the comments we received from you, our lovely readers, many of you wouldn’t be opposed to Long receiving the kind of maintenance necessary to clean up some of his injuries and prepare him for 2018. I’m not going to argue with you because your hearts and minds are in a logical place. However, I will say Long seems like the type willing to play through injuries if able to.

Putting Long back at right guard would allow the Bears to slide Cody Whitehair back to center. Whitehair visited the Bernstein and Goff Show on WSCR 670-AM and discussed what has been a trying second season. Whitehair played at a near Pro Bowl level as a rookie in 2016, but hasn’t found consistency this season as he has shifted around the line making starts at center and guard because of injuries suffered by Long and Josh Sitton. But credit Whitehair for working hard to hone his craft at different positions, which is something that will hopefully pay off for him and the team in future years. Still, it’s disappointing watching what was supposed to be the strength of the offensive line not live up to its lofty preseason billing.

Have you voted for your favorite Bears today?

⚡️ “2018 #ProBowlVote is Underway”https://t.co/YMu6k6ToRf

— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2017

written by

Luis C. Medina

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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