Bears coach John Fox on Monday declined to stay whether Mark Sanchez or Mitch Trubisky will back up Mike Glennon in Sunday's season opener against the Falcons.
Given the Bears' desire to be deliberate in developing Trubisky, the second-overall draft pick, it would be surprising if Sanchez were not the gameday backup. The Bears value Sanchez's experience as a ninth-year veteran, using it to justify playing him on only two series in exhibition games last month.
If Trubisky is the third quarterback, he probably would be inactive for the game. Fox declined to detail the plan for developing him now that the team is in their regular-season practice routine, but he indicated it will involve a combination of scout-team reps and reps with the Bears' offense.
"Our coaches have done an excellent job getting him the time and the reps to develop in the preseason and much of the same will happen in the regular season," Fox said.
Fox explained the benefits of Trubisky quarterbacking the scout team.
"You get a lot of looks," he said. "A lot of people do very similar things in our league. So it's just being under center, seeing defenses, and I'm not saying he won't get any of the regular reps throughout the season. He'll get a combination of both, just as all three of our quarterbacks will, primarily the 2 and 3.
Glennon is the starter and therefore will take most of the Bears' reps.
