Bears HC Talks Offseason, Has Concerning Comment About QB Mitchell Trubisky

Getty Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy.

It was a brief comment, but Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy might have just given Mitchell Trubisky supporters a blow he didn’t mean to give. Nagy met with the media via Zoom on Tuesday, and discussed numerous things, from his concerns about training camp to his team’s current preparations.

Nagy is giving his players a little extra time off, letting them go a week and a half early from their voluntary offseason program. “We really had a phenomenal nine weeks of virtual learning,” Nagy said about the team’s virtual meetings so far. “They’ve been really, really good, solid weeks,” Nagy mentioned, noting he wants his players to be focusing on fitness and training during that time. “We feel like we’re in a very good place right now,” he added.

Noting that “every rep matters,” Nagy said the Bears’ upcoming training camp and the preseason will be incredibly critical and could determine how their 2020 season goes. That will be especially true for Trubisky and veteran QB Nick Foles, who will be competing for the starting position and will be relying heavily on reps in preseason games to make their respective impressions. When he was asked whether Trubisky was approaching this offseason virtually considering the QB competition, Nagy wasn’t critical in his response, but his answer should still be a bit concerning if you’re a fan of Trubisky.

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Nagy Equally Complementary to Trubisky & Nick Foles … Sort Of

Is Mitch Trubisky preparing in a more meticulous, steadfast fashion now that his starting job is on the line? “I’d be lying to you if I said I could tell a major difference,” Nagy said about Trubisky’s current preparations. He then immediately began showering the young quarterback with complements — compliments he then also gave to Nick Foles.

“But what I can tell is that he shows up every single day, he asks great questions, he’s always involved heavily, and the same goes with Nick, as well. Both of those guys have done a really good job,” he said.

Why is this concerning? It’s concerning primarily because instead of saying something like: “Mitch has attacked this offseason like never before, and he’s as diehard and dedicated as I’ve ever seen him,” we’re hearing Trubisky’s head coach say he hasn’t noticed a major difference in his supposed franchise quarterback’s preparation when he’s fighting for his football life in Chicago. Perhaps it’s nothing — and it could be — but Nagy certainly didn’t fall over himself lauding Trubisky’s preparations, and that’s also telling.

Nagy: We’re No Longer Thinking About Previous Seasons

Nagy also noted his team isn’t thinking about their success in 2018, nor are they dwelling on their failures last year. “That’s gone. We don’t care anymore about 2019, we don’t care about 2018. We are in such a good place right now as a team mentally, schematically, personally. Each guy wanting to be a little better and understanding if they focus on themselves, we will be better,” he said.

His top concern during such an uncertain time is maintaining a healthy squad.

“We need to make sure that we’re smart … Injuries can affect a football team. Specifically, you can run into hamstring injuries, calf injuries, all that. So we’ve tackled that pretty well, we have an action plan on how we want to go about fixing that,” Nagy said.

If the Bears can stay healthy in 2020, they have an excellent chance of being a playoff team. They’ll still need a solid effort from the quarterback position, however, and whether they get that — and who they get it from — remains to be seen.

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