TRUB-LE SHOOTER MITCHELL
CHICAGO BEARS quarterback Mitchell Trubisky admits he will need help from his team-mates to get through his first
NFL start unscathed tomorrow night. Trubisky, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, has been on the sidelines for the first four weeks of the season while getting used to life as a professional. But after starter Mike Glennon threw two interceptions in last week’s loss to Green Bay – his fourth and fifth picks in the last three games – coach John Fox says now is the time for Trubisky to take the reins.
Fox, who told Trubisky he would be the starter for tomorrow night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings straight after the defeat at Green Bay, said: “He had an outstanding camp and did well in pre-season. I just feel he is ready for the next step. We didn’t protect the ball very well in our last game and that didn’t give us too much of a chance to win.
“The timing works out pretty well in having a little more time to prepare for Minnesota.
“Will he make mistakes? I’m sure. But I think he’s ready for it and we’ll see how he responds.”
And although he says he feels good, Trubisky knows he will have to rely on his team-mates against the Vikings. He said: “I feel like I’m ready.
“We have had a week to prepare and we’ve taken it day by day, doing everything we can to prepare.
“I am going to depend on my team-mates a lot but my job is to get the ball to our playmakers. I am just the distributor. I have got to manage the offence and do the best I can. From day one it has been about managing the offence.
“My team-mates have rallied around me and they’ve seen what I can do. I have got to be that spark for the offence.
“I can’t say enough about how good Mike has been throughout this whole process. As a professional and as a person it says a lot about him.
“Based on last week we have a lot to prove and a lot to improve on. There has been a good sense of urgency this week and we have gone back to basics.
“I have got to do the simple things that allow me to play to my strengths.”
In the best of today’s games, Green Bay travel to Dallas in a rematch of last year’s NFC Divisional play-off, while the only unbeaten team left – Kansas City Chiefs – travel to face Houston’s ferocious defence.