Lombardi bashes Trubisky; Bears defend teammate

Former Browns general manager Mike Lombardi — whom no team in the NFL seems to want in their front office — called Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky “a joke” recently and said Bears fans are “crazy” for buying Trubisky jerseys.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy and Trubisky’s teammates are jumping to the defense of the former Mentor High School quarterback.

Never mind the fact Trubisky, the second pick of the 2017 draft, has the 5-3 Bears in first place in the NFC North in his first full season as a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Mentor High School graduate has thrown 16 touchdown passes and seven interceptions and is rated 16th among NFL quarterbacks. Notable quarterbacks with a lower rating include Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers (18th), Andy Dalton of the Bengals (20th), Alex Smith of the Redskins (23rd), Dak Prescott of the Cowboys (24th) and Marcus Mariota of the Titans (25th).

on football years ago, but Ian could never get rid of the soccer bug, which hit him early. Growing up, he also participated in basketball, track and cross country, but soccer has always been No. 1.

How he became a goalkeeper wasn’t complicated — “I was tall,” he said.

However, McIntosh said being tall isn’t a requirement, nor does it guarantee success.

“It’s how hard you work, your effort,” said McIntosh, who will graduate in the spring with a degree in computer science. “If you’re willing to work, and make yourself better, you can complete against anyone.”

When he arrived at JCU, McIntosh quickly became a centerpiece player for a program that had lost four straight seasons in the OAC men’s tournament final. One of his goals was to help end that streak. In his second year, JCU did that by winning the OAC tournament. McIntosh made two big saves in a win over Ohio Northern.

“It’s always been about building that winning mentality,” he said.

“You couldn’t get me to buy Mitchell Trubisky if you had him on a discount rack at Filene’s Basement,” Lombardi said Nov. 5 on “Follow the Money,” a radio show on SiriusXM. “There’s no chance. He can’t throw the ball in bounds half the time.

“It’s a joke. I was in Chicago this week and all I saw were Trubisky jerseys. And I’m thinking, ‘You people are crazy. You’re going to be selling them in three years.’ There’s no way.”

Bears running back Tarik Cohen tweeted: “Watch how you talkin bout my QB boy.”

Lombardi, who worked in personnel with the 49ers, Raider, Eagles and Patriots as well as the Browns, wasn’t done.

“Look, (Trubisky) is a good athlete,” Lombardi continued his rant. “He runs around, he makes some plays with his feet, but when he has to make precise throws ... Brett Favre said this one time, and

I think it really applies. Bad quarterbacks can throw the ball through a door. Good quarterbacks can hit the door knob. The great ones throw it through the keyhole. Do you think Trubisky can throw the ball through a keyhole? There’s no chance, right. I just don’t see it.”

Trubisky has completed 64.2 percent (167 for 260) of his passes. That is a better completion percentage than the one put up this year by Aaron Rodgers (60.7 percent) of the Packers.

Pro Football Focus also has low regard for Trubisky, ranking him 29th, ahead of only Sam Darnold of the Jets, Nick Mullens of the 49ers and Nathan Peterman of the Bills.

The Bears are not influenced by the criticism. Trubisky is 9-11 as a starter. He is in his first season under Matt Nagy as head coach.

“Anytime you’re drafted as a quarterback early and high in the draft, you’re always going to be critiqued,” Nagy told reporters Nov. 7 in Chicago. “The only thing

he needs to worry about is what I think about him and what people in this building think about him. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion and that’s OK, that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. But as long as he just understands that the only thing that matters is what we think, nothing will affect him.”

Trubisky is trying to block out the critics. He is only made aware of them when reporters ask him for a response.

“I’ve been off social media,” Trubisky told reporters. “I don’t really check it that often and I don’t really have it on my phone. So I don’t hear any of the outside noise, whether it be positive or negative. I just have a lot more time, and my focus is elsewhere within football and my family and everything else I have going on. It hasn’t been a distraction for me. Most of it last year had been negative, so it’s just a lot of negativity that I blocked out of my life.”

The Bears host the Detroit Lions on Nov. 11 in a key NFC North showdown.