A week into break, Bears’ Mitch Trubisky already has ‘countdown’ to camp

Bears coach Matt Nagy had a suggestion for Mitch Trubisky during his exit interview in January.

“[He’s] like, ‘One thing I want you to do is find a different hobby. Go relax, go chill,’” the quarterback said Saturday.

That hasn’t stuck. And least not yet.

A week after the Bears broke for the summer, Trubisky continues to surround himself with football. He has worked out every day since the end of the Bears’ mandatory minicamp June 13. He held a camp at his alma mater, Mentor (Ohio) High School, last week. On Saturday, he participated in the Hyundai Youth Football Camp at The Dome in Rosemont. He’ll hold another camp this week in Lake Forest. He said it was important for him to hold camps at his old home — and his new one.

Maybe when all that is done, he conceded, he’ll look for a place to fly this summer. Perhaps it will be Southern California, where he trained in the spring. If he goes there, though, he’ll continue his football workouts.

“That’s a good way for me to calm my mind, too,” he said. “After I get done training, I’m just out there doing my business and relaxing.”

As for a hobby, Trubisky said he likes watching movies. He said he can’t help keeping his mind in the game he loves, though.

“You need balance in your life all-around,” he said. “When you find that balance and relax and get away from the game a little bit — and when you come back, you just go that much harder.

“It’s tough for me, because I’m just so excited and amped for the season and what we have ahead of us that [I] always want to work. But you have to take a step back in order to take even more steps forward. We’re going to come back even harder and more focused than ever. I’m excited.”

Trubisky has yet to set up an on-campus throwing session with his receivers this summer. He said that could come the last weekend or two before the Bears report to Olivet Nazarene University on July 25.

“The countdown is there for me,” he said. “Excited for the season. It’s nice to see some family, hang out with some friends and give back and be at camps like this with the kids. But we’re definitely ready to work.”

That work should come easier. Trubisky said the team has a “huge head start” over the one that went to training camp last year. Not only does Trubisky know the offense better — “You’re not thinking about your steps, or who’s where, or where the protection is going, stuff like that,” he said — but the players know the way Nagy runs training camp and how they can best prepare for it.

“We’re just ahead of schedule,” Trubisky said. “For us, it’s being on top of everything, going through the details and really, really mastering this offense. And just getting everybody on the same page and going in the same direction.

“We have a lot of guys back. I think that’s a huge advantage for us. . . . We know to come to work every day. It just makes everything that much more fun.”

Kids and adults alike chanted Trubisky’s name as he spoke Saturday. Trubisky, who was once booed at a Bulls game not long after he was drafted, can appreciate the sentiment.

“I’m very humble that people are accepting me, and they are proud that I’m their quarterback,” he said. “That motivates me to work even harder, and come out here and continue to give back.”