Mitch Trubisky reads a room better than he does a defense.
After he was benched in the third quarter Sunday for throwing an interception to a defender he never saw, Trubisky decided to speak to the media and vowed to do his best in his new role — as Nick Foles’ backup.
“This is still a team-first game,” Trubisky said after the game. “So whoever’s first, if Nick’s the starter going forward, it is what it is. And I’ve got to have his back just like he had mine.”
When the Bears named Trubisky the starting quarterback last month, they were comforted by the fact that Foles, perhaps the most accomplished backup in NFL history, knew his role: to mentor, encourage and to be ready when called upon.
Now that they’ve switched to Foles, they need Trubisky, as frustrated as he is by the decision, to do the same.
Keeping Trubisky engaged and mentally prepared is critical to the Bears’ season. Be it because of injury or performance, Foles probably won’t go the distance — he’s never started 13 regular-season games in the same season.
The Bears will need Trubisky, eventually.
He’s already saying the right things. Now he needs to follow through.
“I think what you know about Mitchell is, he understands the perspective and the big picture ...” said pass game coordinator Dave Ragone, who’s known Trubisky longer than any coach inside Halas Hall. “For me, understanding and knowing him, he’s going to do this the right way in terms of being a great teammate. …. There’s no doubt in any of our minds that’s how he’s going to approach this.
“Internally? Sure, as a competitor, anybody who’s ever played a down of anything, you obviously want to be out there. And when you’re not out there you have to switch that role. And I think that’s what he’s going to do.”
Trubisky was an NFL backup for his first four games, but never again. He spent two years in that role at North Carolina, though. When Marquise Williams beat him out in 2014, coach Larry Fedora vowed to “use Mitch as we need to do throughout a game.” The redshirt freshman threw 78 passes, all in relief — with the most, 16, coming in a blowout win against Liberty. The next year, Trubisky threw 47 — with the most, 20, coming in garbage time against Delaware.
He stayed engaged — and was effective — but never did beat out the starter; Trubisky took over in 2016 only after Williams graduated. This time, though, Foles is the one who will stick around longer; he’s on a three-year deal, while Trubisky can be a free agent at the end of the season. If Trubisky doesn’t fight his way back onto the field this year, his next snap will be in another team’s uniform.
The Bears have been delicate with Trubisky since the switch. That’s one reason Nagy — who described an emotional postgame scene — waited a day to name Foles the starter.
The Bears’ coaching staff is filled with quarterbacks who started in college: Nagy [Delaware], offensive coordinator Bill Lazor [Cornell], DeFilippo [Fordham] and Ragone [Louisville]. Even defensive line coach Jay Rodgers played quarterback at Indiana and Missouri State.
They all know, first-hand, that changing quarterbacks is cataclysmic.
“If you polled us all, at some point in our careers, we’ve been in the situation that Mitch is going through right now,” said DeFilippo, who reached out to Trubisky on Sunday and Monday nights. “Now, not to this level — In the city of Chicago, playing for the Chicago Bears. I get it. But my point is: the emotions that are going on inside of you right now as a competitor are human. … So we all understand what Mitch is going through.”
Trubisky is hurting. But he’ll be defined by what he does next.
“There is no doubt in my mind,” DeFilippo said, “that he will be the teammate we want him to be, that he wants to be.”
