SEQUEL PARTNERS
In ’ 15, it was Winston; now Trubisky gets in Glennon’s way
Two years later and 1,200 miles apart, the questions felt the same.
“I mean, déjà vu,” Bears quarterback Mike Glennon said.
The Buccaneers drafted Jameis Winston No. 1 overall in 2015. Lovie Smith named him their starter July 31 at the start of training camp. Glennon was relegated to backup duty and left to answer questions about the Florida State phenom.
Glennon’s current situation — the Bears gave Mitch Trubisky reps with the first team in practice Wednesday and said he’ll play with firstteamers to start the second half Sunday against the Titans — does not carry the same finality. Coach John Fox called Glennon his starter, and it appears likely to stay that way for Week 1.
But it represents precisely what Glennon must’ve prayed he was escaping in March, when he signed a three- year deal with $ 18.5 million guaranteed to join the Bears.
Even when Trubisky was drafted — much to the veteran’s surprise — the Bears assured Glennon of his place on the team. He repeated, mantra- like, that, “This is my year.”
That is no longer promised.
Glennon admitted that he was a little surprised by Trubisky’s increased workload — “They just told me what it was and, ‘ OK, time to start getting ready,’ ” he said — but said he can lean on his previous experience fighting for a starting job.
“Control what you can control,” Glennon said. “Outside of that, it just doesn’t do you any good to worry about other things.”
Had Glennon done that — he completed 15 of 26 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown and threw two interceptions in two preseason games — the Bears wouldn’t be letting the No. 2 overall pick take snaps away from him. It’s no small gesture. With only 11 passes in two years, practice time and game action are still extremely valuable for Glennon.
The pressure that comes with Trubisky’s extra snaps Sunday is an added part of the challenge, Glennon admitted.
“That’s kind of what I mentally prepared myself for going into this, having gone through a situation with a high draft pick,” Glennon said. “I tried to play out — not worry about but prepare myself for — the situation in my mind.”
The Bears now have a quarterback controversy, even if they won’t admit it.
Glennon stressed that “it was clear to me nothing has changed on the depth chart” and that Trubisky is merely “getting one rep with the starters.” Were there a change brewing, though, wouldn’t he be the last to know?
Fox scoffed at a question about whether their competition was performance- based.
“Well, I’d answer that,” Fox told reporters, “but you guys would run with it somehow. So I’ll just not answer it.”
Glennon can provide his own answer — if not once and for all, at least for now — with a solid performance in the first half against the Titans. Anything other than a dud would probably be enough to keep Trubisky at bay before the opener.
If Trubisky is as magical as he was in the first exhibition game, though, the pressure will be on Glennon from the first whistle of Week 1.
“That’s kind of the focus of preseason — to continue to grow as an offense, as a player, get more comfortable out there and ultimately put together as good of a performance as you can as an offense,” Glennon said.
Do that, and he can, for the first time, put some distance between himself and Trubisky.
“I think, ultimately, be kind of the commander on the field,” Glennon said. “Get the ball in the playmakers’ hands. Get a lot of completions. Protect the football. And put together a few scoring drives.”