Getty Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky spent the 2021 season as a backup with the Buffalo Bills.
Former Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is set to be a free agent once again.
Trubisky spent his first four years in Chicago before heading to New York for the 2021 season, where he backed up Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen on a one-year, $2.5 million deal. The Bears also moved on, signing veteran Andy Dalton to a one-year contract while drafting QB Justin Fields 11th overall pick.
As it did during Trubisky’s tenure, Chicago’s offense struggled with Matt Nagy at the helm, finishing 30th in passing (188.6 yards per game), 24th in total offense (307.4 yards a game) and 27th in points scored (18.3 per game). Trubisky, however, got to work with one of the NFL’s top offenses. The Bills finished 3rd in scoring (28.4 points a game), 5th in total offense (381.9 yards a game) and 9th in passing (252.0 yards per contest), and Trubisky honed his craft all season as scout team quarterback, helping to prep Buffalo’s defense each week.
In an interview with Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News, Trubisky talked about his future, his time with the Bills, and also got candid about his time in the Windy City.
ALL the latest Bears news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on Bears newsletter here!
Trubisky Responds to Apologies From Analysts
After Chicago failed to finish with a winning mark for the third straight season under Nagy, the Bears went another direction, firing Nagy and hiring the defensive-minded Matt Eberflus. The Bears’ offense struggled so much at times under Nagy last season, some analysts, including ESPN’s Ryan Clark, publicly apologized to Trubisky for being overly critical of the quarterback during Nagy’s tenure as coach.
ESPN,Ryan Clark apologizes to #Bears former 1st round quarterback Mitch Trubisky,who suffered through 3 years of Matt #Nagy‘s inept tutelage! as I have clearly stated 3 seasons. and got loads of backlash from “rose colored glasses” #Bearsfans. FGS! seeing is believing huh!
The Buffalo News asked Trubisky for his thoughts regarding the apologies from Clark and others, and the 27-year-old QB said that ultimately, they didn’t mean much.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure,” Trubisky said. “It doesn’t necessarily bring me peace because I’m not where I want to be yet as a player. And I just believe it was kind of just part of my journey, to where my career is gonna go. So I haven’t really thought about it too much, honestly.”
He also noted that things may have been happening “behind the scenes” when Nagy was coach the public may not have been privy to.
“But I think that’s just something people realize with time,” he continued. “It’s never exactly how it seems, right? Like there’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes, that people don’t know or people don’t see. So to hear those apologies, I didn’t really know what to think of it, besides it was … it was a little too late. Like it was already over for me. It’s already in the past. So there’s really no point for me to think about it or stress about.”
Follow the Heavy on Bears Facebook page, where you can weigh in on all the latest Bears-related breaking news, rumors, content and more!
Trubisky Impressed During His Time in Buffalo
Trubisky appeared in six games this year, completing six of eight passes for 43 yards and an interception. He also had 24 rushing yards and a score on the ground, and Bills general manager Brandon Beane was impressed enough with what he saw from Trubisky to offer him a ringing endorsement.
“If anybody calls me about Mitch on another team, I’m going to give him a great recommendation,” Beane told Fitzgerald. “And I’ve told him and his agent, if he doesn’t get what he wants, we’ve got a spot for him.”
READ NEXT: Bears GM Ryan Poles Puts Several Players on Notice: ‘He Was Not Kind’