Take it easy on Trubisky
Let QB’s return with Bills be a reminder of mess Pace made
Don’t boo quarterback Mitch Trubisky on Saturday when he returns to Soldier Field to make a preseason start for the Bills. That would be petty, misguided and embarrassing.
All the exasperation should be directed at Bears general manager Ryan Pace. Boo him instead — if you can find him, that is.
For more than four years, Trubisky has been taking heat for Pace’s mistake of trading up to take him No. 2 overall in 2017 — passing over eventual stars Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.
It started with getting booed at a Bulls playoff game the day after the draft. But, to both his credit and his detriment, Trubisky did everything right as he tried to live up to what the Bears thought they saw in him.
That’s why no one actually hates Trubisky, at Halas Hall or beyond.
He never lost support from people in the building, including the locker room, because he worked constantly. This isn’t a guy who squandered his chance through recklessness or entitlement. His shortfalls in mastering the Bears’ playbook and reading defenses weren’t for lack of trying. He was gritty. And he never dodged blame.
“You earn trust by the way you handle yourself in practice and in meetings and on the game day,” coach Matt Nagy said. “Mitch is an extremely tough individual. Really, last year, it could have been easy for him to just say, “You know what? I’m not playing anymore. I got injured, and I’m done.’ And he didn’t do that. He fought back.”
Unfortunately for Trubisky, talent matters most. Jay Cutler — the gold standard for modern Bears quarterbacks, sadly — was good enough on the field that no one cared much how he acted away from it.
And now that the Bears have moved on with a more impressive talent in rookie Justin Fields, there’s no point in wallowing in Trubisky’s disappointing four-year run.
“That’s still my guy, still my brother,” safety Eddie Jackson said. “I want the best for him and his family . . . . He can put all this stuff behind him and prove people wrong.”
If Trubisky got the opportunity Nick Foles did with the Eagles a few years ago and jumped in for the Bills during the playoffs, the Bears would root for him. Obviously, they don’t think he’ll go on to be great, but they hope it happens for him.
And on that note, there was nothing profound about Trubisky saying last month that he sensed the Bears organization “continuously believing in me less and less.” That couldn’t have been more obvious after they declined his fifth-year option, traded for a veteran (Foles) at his position and benched him three games into the season. Of course the Bears lost faith. Clinging to it would have been delusional.
“I’m excited for [Trubisky] to go back to Chicago,” Bills running back Matt Breida said, “and show them they made a mistake.”
Let’s chill on that, Breida. It’s only a preseason game.
Also, bailing on Trubisky will never turn out to have been a mistake. It was the smartest thing the Bears did in the entire ordeal. Regardless of whether he thrives with a new team, it wasn’t going to work out here.
“It would not be fair to put everything on him,” Nagy said. “There’s a lot of things that went into that.”
Truth is, nearly everything about the boondoggle falls on Pace and Nagy. Trubisky didn’t draft himself No. 2 or unnecessarily trade a package of picks. He didn’t give himself a higher pre-draft grade than Mahomes, a future Hall of Famer. He didn’t insist that he “win from the pocket” instead of relying on his proven mobility and athleticism.
If anyone deserves booing, it’s not him. He did what he could. He just wasn’t good enough. Pace is the one who should have known better.
“I’M EXCITED FOR HIM TO GO BACK TO CHICAGO AND SHOW THEM THEY MADE A MISTAKE.” MATT BREIDA, Bills running back, on Mitch Trubisky (right)