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Whether Mitch Trubisky just played his final game in a Chicago Bears uniform remains to be seen, but the team’s former second overall pick is getting a few parting shots in regardless. After the Bears’ 21-9 Wild Card loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Bears quarterback spoke with the media about what went wrong, and he got specific, even calling out the team’s culture.
He also suggested the offense was better with him running it — which is correct, but it’s unusual for Trubisky to be so outspoken and critical at the same time. Here’s what he had to say after the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs:
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Bears Were Unquestionably Better With Trubisky Than With Foles
After getting benched Week 3, many felt Trubisky would only reemerge if an injury befell Foles, which is precisely what happened. Foles went down Week 10, and after a Week 11 bye, Trubisky was back under center Week 12.
The offense had stalled in myriad ways under Foles, who failed to score more than 23 points once in his tenure as a starter, so Trubisky’s return felt inevitable, anyway, but the veteran suffering a hip pointer and glute bruise was ultimately the catalyst for Trubisky taking over the starting role again.
Trubisky threw for 1,694 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions (including the playoff game against the Saints) after his Week 12 return. The Bears averaged 30.7 points in that span — although they averaged just 16.6 points against teams with winning records.
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Trubisky on Bears Offense This Season: It Was Better When I Was Put Back In
When he was asked about whether he felt he had improved as a quarterback this season, Trubisky answered in the affirmative. “I feel like I got better this year. I feel like when I was put back in the starting lineup that the offense was better and I gave my team a chance to win and we did win games and that is why we were able to get back into the playoffs,” Trubisky said, adding:
“It wasn’t just me but it was the whole unit coming together and the whole team making plays and really getting through that adversity together but I feel like I was a big part of that.”
Next, he did something somewhat surprising — he took a shot at the team’s culture.
Trubisky on Bears’ Issues: ‘A Lot of It is the Culture’
The Bears had nine penalties in their loss to the Saints, and they also saw starting wideout Anthony Miller get ejected after an altercation with Saints defensive back CJ Gardner-Johnson, so their Wild Card exit was loaded with head-scratching plays.
“I think it comes down to execution,” Trubisky said. “It always comes down to the basics at the end of the day. Are we doing good on third down? And tonight we were not. Were we efficient on first and second down? Tonight we were not … It was just sloppy.”
Then, he mentioned the team’s culture, which was eyebrow-raising:
As I said, there’s a lot of things we need to do better, a lot of things we need to change and a lot of it is the culture and what we accept and what we don’t. So we just have to keep getting better. And you’ve got to play your best ball against better teams like that. Especially Green Bay last week and the Saints this week, you have to show up to play and execute and everybody has to be on the same page and tonight it was too sloppy for us and so that’s why we didn’t get the result we wanted.
While he’s not wrong, it’s still slightly jarring to hear Trubisky sound off on the team’s issues this way. Chicago had a very similar 8-8 season in 2019, and he didn’t come anywhere near being this candid.
Whether he remains in a Bears uniform after this season is anyone’s guess, but he’s calling it like he sees it now — but it may be too little, too late.
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