UNENVIABLE POSITION
It’s hard to be Glennon — and harder to see a way he can recover
With rookie Mitch Trubisky’s ascension as the Bears’ starting quarterback a virtual inevitability, the “Don’t count Mike Glennon out” contrarian story should be easy to write. But, man, it is a tough one. Almost every analysis of Glennon’s status seems to end with the same conclusion: How soon before the Bears kick- start their rebuild for real by starting Trubisky? Is it even possible for the Glennon story to end well? Is there any chance the Bears’ offense finds a groove — and the personnel — that allows Glennon to become the quarterback that general manager Ryan Pace envisioned?
Coach John Fox cautioned that it’s still early for Glennon — and it is — but it seems doubtful even at this early juncture. Glennon was a questionable free- agent signing in the first place, and fate has tied one hand behind his back. His top deep threat, Markus Wheaton, missed most of training camp and all of the preseason because of an appendectomy and a broken left pinkie. Cam Meredith, their top returning receiver, suffered a season- ending tear of his anterior cruciate ligament in the third preseason game. Kevin White, the best hope to develop into a No. 1 target, is on injured reserve with a broken shoulder blade.
And guard Kyle Long’s extended recovery from a severely broken ankle has complicated the situation on the offensive line. The Bears spent much of training camp with Hroniss Grasu at center and center Cody Whitehair at Long’s left guard spot — only to go with Tom Compton at left guard in the season opener. Even backup guard/ center Eric Kush’s season- ending torn hamstring is a factor in Glennon’s plight. If Kush were healthy, he would have moved right into Long’s spot and the Bears would have had the same starting five offensive linemen throughout training camp and the preseason. Instead, continuity has been virtually nil, and the line play predictably uneven, in the first two games.
The Glennon signing now looks more dubious than ever because while Glennon might be as good as Pace expected with everything in order, he has shown no sign of being a quarterback who can do more with less.
“I think we still have a lot of confidence as an offense,” Glennon said last week. “We had a couple turnovers we have to eliminate, but other than that, we were moving the ball just fine.
“I don’t know how many times we punted [ it was three], but it wasn’t many — it wasn’t for lack of moving the ball. It was turning the ball over. We’ll focus on eliminating those and build on the good things we did.”
You can’t blame Glennon for accentuating the positive, but that explanation didn’t fly even when Jay Cutler was saying it. Everybody thinks the Bears are close. And then comes Sunday.
It’s the same with Glennon as it was with Cutler — we’ll have to see it to believe it. And with Cutler, there was no better option to replace him ( apologies to Josh McCown). With Glennon, there most definitely is.
So the next 12 days ( the Steelers on Sunday and the Packers next Thursday night at Lambeau Field) could be crucial for Glennon — arguably his last, best chance to make 2017 his year. The returns of Long and Wheaton — both expected to play for the first time this season — could give Glennon and the offense the boost they badly need. Maybe the deep threat of Wheaton will be a dimension that opens things up for Jordan Howard and the running game, which opens things up for Kendall Wright and Josh Bellamy in the mid- range passing game. And maybe Glennon will get a fair chance to show us what Pace saw in him.
But the reality is that even then, all eyes still will be on Trubisky. Follow me on Twitter @ MarkPotash.