At organized team activities, the Chicago Bears can’t get too much of a feel for how the offense might perform on Sundays in the regular season, but the coaching staff can see how Mitchell Trubisky is operating the system.
No pads and no contact make it hard to replicate the physical pressures of a real game, but so far, the third-year quarterback is making progress with the simulated mental pressures of working at the line of scrimmage.
“Where he is in terms of his mental capacity to understand what the other side is doing is as good as it’s been or ever been for him at this point,” quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone told reporters last week. “It doesn’t mean we still don’t make mistakes. It doesn’t mean that things always go perfect.”
For Trubisky, it means knowing the play calls inside and out and helping his new teammates get up to speed.
His coaches are seeing his improved understanding of what the defense is trying to do to stop him and how he can adjust to counter back.
“In terms of why he’s doing what he’s doing and the answers he’s giving back when asked a question, he’s talking at a higher level than he has at any point last year,” Ragone said. “Hopefully, that shows in all his play.”
Translating the offseason work to regular season progress will be critical for the Bears to take the next step in 2019. He’s checking all the boxes at OTAs, and that’s all Nagy can ask for from his young quarterback.
