Mitch Trubisky knows about the hate coming his way, and he’s trying to steer clear
Mitch Trubisky is fully aware about all the hate that’s coming his way.
The Chicago Bears quarterback is fresh off a rough outing in their 36-25 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, his first game back from a left shoulder injury. While he looked OK on paper — he went 34-of-54 for 251 yards and two touchdowns — most of his production came in the final 2:31 of the game.
Through the first three quarters, Trubisky led the Bears offense to just 84 yards and four first downs. Their first 10 drives lasted an average of just 3.7 plays, and they only mustered a measly three points in their first 11 possessions. Trubisky made plenty of simple mistakes, too, igniting some calls that the Bears should even deal away the quarterback the organization once traded up to get in the NFL draft.
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Yet Trubisky insists he isn’t shifting his mindset much at all — even with the outside noise growing louder by the day.
“I’ve approached it the same every day, maybe with just a little more focus and determination just because everyone’s talking about how bad we are and what we’re doing wrong,” Trubisky said Wednesday, via the Chicago Sun Times. “I think that just makes me even more motivated to pull my brothers together, work harder and do a little extra.”
Clearly, though, the third-year quarterback’s confidence isn’t where it should be — even with coach Matt Nagy still behind him.
“Well, his confidence isn’t at an all-time high. We’re struggling right now,” Nagy said Wednesday, via the Chicago Tribune. “But how do you get that back? You get it back by practicing hard, by actually getting tighter. We need to get tighter and understand, and I think that’s the message that we’ve had is get tighter, believe in one another, keep trusting, right?”
Trubisky and the Bears have a golden opportunity to right the ship on Sunday when they host the Los Angeles Chargers, a team dealing with plenty of their own struggles. The Chargers have dropped three straight, and five out of their last six — with the lone victory coming against the winless Miami Dolphins.
One of the biggest ways for Trubisky and the offense as a whole to do that, he said, is to simply relax.
That, though, is far easier said than done — especially in Chicago.
“If you take the expectations off what we’re supposed to do and just go out and play free, I think that allows you to play to the best of your ability,” Trubisky said, via the Chicago Sun Times. “We’re not doing that right now and I think we’re letting the extra frustration get to us. That’s why you see more mental mistakes and we’re not playing the game fundamentally sound or playing it together.
“We’ve got to get to that point where it’s all 11 guys doing their jobs on offense, playing free and playing like we know how. When we get to that point, I think you’ll see a different offense.”
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