NEWSLETTER
Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky has a whole bunch of work to do after a Week 1 where he showed his best and worst qualities.
The same can be said about Matt Nagy, the first-year head coach whose offense flashed early and fizzled out late. Nagy needs to be the quarterback whisperer the franchise believed it was hiring back in January, while Trubisky needs to perform like someone worthy of being the first quarterback taken in his draft class.
As for how these two things will happen, the quarterback will need to heed the advice of his head coach:
Nagy on whether #Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky should scramble out of the pocket: "We always teach him to be a thrower first. And if it's not there, use your natural instincts to take off and run."
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) September 14, 2018
Trubisky’s athleticism can be a gift and a curse, to say the least.
Between Trubisky’s brief career as a college starter at North Carolina and his 13-game stint as a starting signal caller in the NFL, a consensus has grown that he is at his best when throwing on the run. And because Trubisky has shown the ability to make plays on the move here and there early in his career as a pro, there are times where the second-year quarterback looks to get on the move.
There are times when Trubisky needs to move around, there are also times where he defaults to that too quickly. Don’t get me wrong. The ability to throw well on the run is good, but it can be awfully dangerous when the quarterback loses sight of what’s happening around him because his eyes don’t always stay up when he is scrambling. There are occasions when Trubisky is on the move and his eyes drop, which causes him to miss out on potential plays he could make with a throw down the field. Momentary lapses such as that can lead to any number of mistakes – mistakes that could cost a team possession, points, and even a win.
On the other hand, you can understand why Trubisky would try to avoid the types of catastrophic mistakes that can come from throwing on the run when you don’t have your eyes up. We can chalk this up to the list of things Trubisky needs to clean up in order for him to reach his peak potential.
The risk calculus is something that is still growing in Year 2 because it wasn’t allowed to develop on its own last season. The way we see it, Nagy and his coaching staff needs to coach out the things instilled during the John Fox era. Trubisky must unlearn what he has learned, and his next lesson will be in front of a televised audience in prime time at home against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.
