Trubisky’s Superstitions, Shaheen Transforms the Offense, Hester’s Hall of Fame Candidacy, and Other Bullets

Dec 12, 2017

Maybe Mitch Trubisky isn’t superstitious, but he’s definitely a little ‘stitious:

Mitch Trubisky was asked about not throwing an interception on 3rd down yet: "Why would you jinx me? Come on dude. That’s not cool.”
(@patrickfinley asked the question so send all complaints to him)

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 12, 2017

Trubisky was joking.

I think.

"You better hope….," said Trubisky with a smile.

— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) December 12, 2017

Things haven’t gone quite as planned for Trubisky in 2017. After all, remember when the plan was to use this year as a redshirt season learning under Mike Glennon. That lasted all of four games as Glennon failed at the offense’s most basic premise – protect the football. With nine starts under Trubisky’s belt, Greg Gabriel dives in and makes an early assessment of the rookie’s season over at CBS Chicago. Gabriel, who once served as the Bears’ pro scouting director, says Trubisky “has shown vast improvements” which began with seeing three of the league’s top defenses (Vikings, Ravens, Panthers) in his first three starts. It’s not a tough argument to make if you believe Trubisky has benefited from playing before he was perceived to be ready. Growing pains are a part of the game, so to get them out of the way now could go a long way toward helping him grow.

Then again, Trubisky accelerated the process and changed the plan with his preseason progression, which impressed teammates along the way.

It’s unfortunate that tight end Adam Shaheen was listed as limited on Tuesday’s injury report. Over at CBS Chicago, Chris Emma writes Shaheen flashed the kind of potential that could change the dynamic of the Bears’ offense. “When you’re rolling, it helps out everybody,” Shaheen told reporters after the game. Shaheen played 32 snaps and came away with one of the five best grades from Pro Football Focus for his efforts on Sunday. He caught four of his five targets for 44 yards and a touchdown and was a contributor on 18 run-blocking snaps. Shaheen was one of Trubisky’s top targets in the Bears’ Week 14 win, so any set-back is a bummer – so let’s hope this one doesn’t linger for too long.

SMALL SAMPLE ALERT: Trubisky has completed 11 of 13 passes (84.6 completion percentage) for 125 yards, and two touchdowns when throwing to Shaheen. That adds up to a ridiculous 146.3 passer rating. More please.

Zach Miller was a top tight end target for Trubisky, too. Unfortunately, that season-ending knee injury dashed dreams of the rookie quarterback using the veteran tight end as a safety valve on his road to development. Miller met with the media at Halas Hall on Monday, marking his first public appearance with the media since his gruesome knee injury. You can re-watch Miller’s time at the podium and read up on his thoughts here if you so choose.

One of the most painful realities of the situation was the possibility of amputation, which Miller addressed on Monday. ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson has details of that particular re-telling. “It was very real,” Miller said when asked about the threat of amputation. “A couple of wrong turns away from actually happening. I had a ton of care, a lot of people helping me out through that entire process. But we were a couple of minutes away from having that be real.”

That’s such a scary thought and one I’d rather not try to wrap my brain around. I’m happy Miller is doing well and we all wish him nothing but the best in his recovery process.

And, hey, give Miller a tip of the cap for his continued involvement with his teammates from the sideline.

#Bears QB Mitch Trubisky says injured TE Zach Miller texts him almost every day to check up on him and see how he's doing. "I should be checking on him," he said.
— Bob LeGere (@BobLeGere) December 12, 2017

On the other side of the injury report, the Detroit Lions – who provide Saturday’s competition (yes, Saturday) – are also fighting injuries. Center Travis Swanson, who missed five games in 2016 due to a concussion is battling those problems once again. Head Coach Jim Caldwell told reporters Swanson is in concussion protocol after playing the entirety of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with concussion symptoms.

Remember when Caldwell had a small sense of security after signing a contract extension? That didn’t last long. A report surfaced over the weekend that Caldwell’s extension was just for one year. It could be perceived that Caldwell’s extension, which was kept on the hush for most of the year, was proof GM Bob Quinn isn’t too keen or confident in his coach. If you’ll recall, Quinn took over as GM in January 2016 and inherited Caldwell – but did not fire the head coach after a 7-9 season and instead stayed the course. The Lions went 9-7 and made the playoffs in 2016 and are in a position to make a late-season postseason run in 2017. Of course, the Bears could throw a wrench in those plans.

Devin Hester a.k.a. The Greatest Return Man In Football History officially announced his retirement on Tuesday, thus, triggering the is-he or isn’t-he debate regarding his Hall of Fame status. And ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Dickerson weighs in with four words to answer the question – you bet he is. Hester built a compelling argument for induction with his career, and frankly, if you don’t believe the best to ever do it at his position isn’t worthy of the Hall of Fame, then you’re wrong. Full stop.

Even John Fox agrees:

John Fox says @D_Hest23 is up there among the elite and in his opinion a Hall of Famer: "The kind of production he had was very, very difficult. He changed games."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 12, 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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