THE BIG NUMBER

Mitch Trubisky is an evasive species. He leads NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards because he’s fast, has some moves and has shown a willingness to go the extra yard.

But you can be as evasive as a politician, and it’s not going to protect you from injury in a sport in which large men are intent on causing harm. The Bears and their quarterback learned that last Sunday, when Vikings safety Harrison Smith was penalized for a late hit after a Trubisky run, causing a right shoulder injury that kept the QB out of the Detroit game on Thanksgiving.

Two things are true when it comes to Mitch the runner: One, the Bears can’t afford to regularly expose their most important offensive player to injury and, two, running the ball is one of the things, if not the thing, he does best. Do they want to deprive themselves of that?

Trubisky has rushed for 363 yards and is averaging a very valuable 7.1 yards per carry. That average is as valuable to the Bears as anything else they do on offense.

Did I mention it might get him killed? You can see the quandary.

When Trubisky decides to take off with the ball, sirens go off for the other team. And the echoes of those sirens are heard not just the rest of that game but in the video sessions of future opponents. A successful run puts defenders, head coaches and defensive coordinators on their heels. The very threat of Trubisky taking off gives coach Matt Nagy’s game plan breathing Rushing yards by Bobby Douglass in 1972, the most by a quarterback in Bears history.