Bears declare open competition at QB between Trubisky and Foles

The Chicago Bears declared the quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky and newcomer Nick Foles an open one on Friday.

General manager Ryan Pace made that clear during a conference call, saying both players are “embracing” the battle that will play out whenever offseason workouts begin.

Coach Matt Nagy stressed that Trubisky will be the first quarterback on the field whenever practices begin, But he planned to give Trubisky and Foles equal time with the starters. He also said both will play in the preseason as part of the evaluation.

“It’s going to be equal and we as coaches need to make sure we do the right thing in regard to equal reps, and make sure they’re playing with similar or the same players on offense and going against the same players on defense,” Nagy said.

Pace largely staked his reputation to Trubisky when he traded up a spot with San Francisco to draft him with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017. And the results have been mixed.

Foles said he called Trubisky because he thought it was important to introduce himself. He wanted to “get started on the right foot.”

“Trust me, I get the situation,” Foles said. “Mitch has been there for a couple years, Mitch has been the quarterback, and I’m respectful to that situation.”

Foles took 2018 Super Bowl MVP honors with the Eagles. He led the Eagles past Chicago in the wild-card game at Soldier Field the next year. He’s familiar with the Bears’ system and worked with Nagy under Andy Reid when they were with the Eagles and Kansas City.

Foles also has something to prove, coming off an injury-riddled season in Jacksonville in which he lost his starting job to rookie Gardner Minshew. To make the trade to Chicago happen, he said he had to agree to a “crazy restructure” of the four-year, $88 million contract he signed just over a year ago.

“The quarterback competition becomes such a big thing in the NFL. Which it is,” Foles said. “The quarterback is an important position. But ultimately we have to do what’s best for the Chicago Bears.”

Browns’ ‘Mr. Dependable,’ had CTE

Donna Houston knew her husband’s mind was deteriorating when the college football Hall of Famer and Cleveland Browns AllPro known as “Mr. Dependable” struggled to manage his money.

A two-way player who won titles in high school, college and the pros, Jim Houston had easily transitioned into the business world when his football career was over. And by 1998, he was broke.

“Executive function, that was really gone,” Donna Houston said. “I started noticing things and I remember saying to him, ‘It’s like you have no common sense.’”

Already diagnosed with ALS and mixed dementia, Jim Houston was worried enough that he agreed to donate his brain so it could be studied for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He died in 2018, and researchers at Boston University found he had Stage 3 CTE, Donna Houston said recently.

“He figured something was wrong and he thought it would be better to find out,” she said in a telephone interview.