HE’S IN CHARGE
Fans Fans can say all they want— players know who’s running show on offense
BOURBONNAIS — Mike Glennon makes his teammates run.
At the end of every trainingcamp practice, the Bears’ starting quarterback adds up the false starts and turnovers the offense totaled that day and shouts out the number.
Every offensive player walks to the sideline to do one “gasser” — a sprint across the width of the field and back— per mistake.
Because he was frustrated by the false starts Monday, Glennon called out the snap count, like he would from under center, before the entire offense ran the gassers together. Glennon included.
No matter how loudly fans cheer second overall pick Mitch Trubisky — at least one has screamed for him to start at each practice — training camp belongs to Glennon.
That’s clear before, during and after practice.
“He’s the one who’s the catalyst, and those guys follow with him and they’re pushing him,” quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone said. “He wants to compete. He wants to be pushed in the meeting rooms and on the field.”
Running back Jordan Howard has never seen a player hold this teammates responsible by leading the post- practice punishment runs.
“It’s usually the offensive coordinator, but never the quarterback,” he said. “We need it. It’s to get us better, so we’re not complaining.
“That’s definitely something new. He’s definitely pushing everybody. He’s doing a great job of commanding the team.”
Glennon’s leadership comes naturally, and it has a purpose.
“Just to make us understand how serious we want to take this game as an offense and how different we want to be from years prior, and how we want to be,” receiver Victor Cruz said. “It’s going to take a full team effort, a full offensive effort, starting with him.”
Like Trubisky and No. 2 quarterback Mark Sanchez, Glennon’s performance has been up and down during camp. The Bears’ offense is new to their top three quarterbacks, and Glennon has attempted only 11 regular- season passes in the last two seasons.
The Bears are impressed with Glennon’s footwork, especially considering his 6- 7 frame. He credits having a stable base from which to pivot.
The better the Bears learn Glennon’s mechanics, the easier it will be to correct anything that might go awry. Passers with long arms and legs tend to need a more precise throwing motion.
“Mike’s a meticulous guy. He wants to do everything right,” Ragone said. “He works on his individual parts of his game. He takes those things very seriously. Which brings out the best in everybody in the room.”
Though Trubisky already seems to be a fan favorite, the attention Glennon is receiving in camp dwarfs any that he got as Jameis Winston’s backup with the Buccaneers. He noticed it over the weekend, when more than 10,000 fans traveled to Olivet Nazarene University over two days.
“We’ll throw [ the football] in a bucket, and fans will scream,” he said, smiling. “And I’m like, ‘ That has nothing really to do with throwing touchdowns.’ ”
Outside the court of public opinion, though, the Bears have no quarterback controversy. They framed this season that way, declaring Glennon the starter. Glennon responded by acting like one.
“They’ve handled the situation really well,” Glennon said. “Everything I could ask for as far as it not being a distraction or anything of that matter, they’ve done that.
“Mitch has done a great job of ... he understands what his role is, and he hasn’t been a distraction, either.”
This is Glennon’s offense — and his team.
“I think that’s kind of been the case really from the moment I got here and reached out to the guys,” Glennon said. “We’re lucky to have a really good group of guys that have all bought in to what we are doing.”