NEWSLETTER
Updates regarding Mitch Trubisky’s development have been mixed this summer. And while he’s had his not-so-savory moments throwing against the Bears’ first-team defense, Head Coach Matt Nagy has seen enough progress to be OK with his starting quarterback not throwing a single pass this preseason.
Seriously:
#Bears QB Mitch Trubisky may not throw a pass in the preseason, but he’s showing in practice he’s “way past” where he was last year in Matt Nagy’s offense. @nflnetwork @NFLTotalAccess pic.twitter.com/B9F7mifFm2
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 14, 2019
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero spoke with Nagy, who said Trubisky is “way past” where he was this time last year in terms of development. And sure, that should be the case for Trubisky after getting a full year of Nagy’s offense under his belt. But it’s where Trubisky has made strides in Nagy’s eyes that stands out the most.
“Trubisky is way past where he was last year in terms of how he is seeing the other side of the ball,” is the message Pelissero relayed from Nagy. “That means blitzes, fronts, coverages, things that Trubisky wasn’t always in tune with a year ago because he was so worried about just calling the right play and getting lined up in a new offense. Now Nagy told me, he’s just playing off instincts.”
That might not seem like a big deal, but let’s not overlook it in the grand scheme of things. In fact, if history tells us anything, it’s that full command of this offense before the snap is one of the most important aspects to get ahold of before one can run it to its fullest potential.
Look back at what Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was saying in August 2018 after struggling in a practice: “Being able to get in and out of the huddle, calling the right plays and then not making a bad play worse is something I’ve got to keep getting better at. I have to eliminate those mistakes. It’s something that can be described as a learning process. Hopefully I make those mistakes now and don’t make them in the game.”
I hardly think it is a coincidence that both quarterbacks were still finding themselves in the second year in an offense off the Andy Reid tree. Mahomes eventually worked past his issues and put forth an MVP season. And while I won’t start etching Trubisky’s name on the NFL MVP award, I feel as if Mahomes’ admittance of his struggles at this point last year and his eventual command of the offense sets the table for Trubisky to do the same thing, in the same time span, in a similar offense, but with a different team.
