Getty Bears quarterbacks Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky
The Chicago Bears aren’t coming right out and saying they’re through with Mitch Trubisky, but based on recent comments made by head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace, the team may see more of a future with Nick Foles. Pace and Nagy spoke with the media earlier this week, and while they couldn’t get into specifics about their plans at the quarterback position for obvious reasons, there were several interesting nuggets dispersed about both Foles and Trubisky.
Rumors have been swirling that Russell Wilson has named the Bears as one of his desired trade partners in the unlikely event that he’s dealt away from Seattle, and when asked about Wilson, Nagy said this:
“Obviously I can’t get into any of that because all of these players are under contract. To me, I have no idea. From our end we have to look at it like the guys that we know that their contracts are up, and that’s what we do. So we just stick to that plan and that’s not something I can even get into.”
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‘In All Fairness to Nick…’
While Nagy mentioned Trubisky a few times and remained respectful and non-committal regarding the former second overall pick, he talked about Foles far more.
“This was our first year going into this season calling plays and being with Nick and understanding what his strengths and weaknesses are,” Nagy said, adding:
In all fairness to Nick, when we went through some of the stretch that we went through as an offense, there was a lot of areas that we could have been better at. And then you have some of the health issues. You have injuries, you have people playing at different spots. There’s some things there just a little bit different than probably we thought it would be at. And Nick would be the first to tell you that we could coach better, we could play better, everybody could have stepped up a little bit more when we went through that stretch. But you know he stepped up in a lot of different ways and just showed kind of who he was. Now, do we want more from him? Yes. Can we get more from him? Yes? Can that happen with us as well? For sure. We can help out from the coaching side too. So talking through things and the relationship side of it is real… He’s under contract and I think one of the best things we do is we talk through the whys all the time. And every year is different. That’s why 2021 is going to be different for all of us.
Foles went 2-5 as a starter for Chicago in 2020, and he threw 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in that span. The Bears looked sluggish and ineffective with the veteran under center, and when he went down with an injury against the Vikings Week 10, Trubisky filled in and started for the Bears the rest of the way.
Chicago saw an undeniable boost in offensive production with Trubisky leading the way after Week 10. Trubisky threw for 1,694 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions (including the playoff game against the Saints) after his return. Chicago scored an average of 30.7 points in that span, but they averaged just 16.6 points against teams with winning records, losing twice to the Packers and to the Saints in the Wild Card round.
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Ryan Pace Non-Committal About Trubisky’s Future in Chicago
When Pace was asked directly about bringing Trubisky back, he said this: “That is going to be part of our offseason plan. We’re not going to lay all that out right now. Those are all internal discussions we’ve had. I would say, again, everything is on the table with all the quarterbacks.”
While Pace refused to come out and say Trubisky’s days are numbered in Chicago, few listened to what he and Nagy had to say and felt the quarterback’s return was happening — including Nagy’s friend and current analyst Louis Riddick.
@markgrotesports Yeah ok…
“There’s a lot of different ways we can go right now. Whether it’s with Mitchell, whether it’s with Nick, if it’s with somebody outside,” Nagy said. “Right now, we’re literally in the thick of everything.”
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