There’s an admirable sense of captaincy from Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and it would be wrong for him to express any uncertainty about his position after three seasons as the starter.
So even after watching his team say one thing — ‘‘We believe in Mitch’’ is general manager Ryan Pace’s catchphrase — and do another this offseason by trading for and paying Nick Foles, Trubisky views himself as the leader. And even after the Bears set an exit date for him by declining his fifth-year option, he thinks he’s their franchise quarterback.
‘‘I know we’re going to push each other,’’ Trubisky said Friday of himself and Foles, ‘‘but I still feel like this is my team.’’
It’s easier to feel that way when Foles hasn’t actually arrived yet. Trubisky has gotten the jump by holding informal passing workouts with skill-position players, but even those would have a different feel if Foles was around.
In reality, this is less Trubisky’s team now than it was the day the Bears drafted him. His standing never has been shakier, so no matter how much he wants to think of the upcoming quarterback competition as Foles trying to take his job, it seems to be the other way around.
While Foles is no juggernaut, having bounced among five teams in nine seasons, he’s the early favorite. The Bears obviously hoped he would be an upgrade when they traded for him. Pace and coach Matt Nagy won’t say it, but it also works in the Bears’ favor financially if Foles takes over and provides a bridge to the next new quarterback in 2021 or 2022.
And then there’s the city. Which guy would you guess people are rooting for to start after watching Trubisky the last three seasons?
After a supposed breakthrough season in 2018, when he had the scariest defense in the league on his side and boosted his stats with one big game against the Buccaneers, Trubisky fell flat with an 83.0 passer rating, 17 touchdowns and just 209.2 passing yards per game last season. The Bears were among the bottom nine in team passer rating, touchdown passes, yards per attempt and total production.
As Trubisky said of the Bears declining his option, ‘‘I had it coming.’’
All of Chicago nods in agreement.
Trubisky said plenty else in his first time talking with the media since everything went down, and most of it sounded great. Most of it was forward-minded and determined, all of it streamlined toward being able to ‘‘play at a different level.’’
But the best and worst thing about Trubisky is that he already has been doing that. It’s to his credit that he has done nothing but work, study his hardest and make every attempt to get it right. It’s also an indictment that he just isn’t good enough.
‘‘I’m very driven and motivated to do a lot more than I did last year,’’ he said.
But he always has been driven. His work ethic and how much he cares are why teammates still respect him and didn’t turn on him last season.
‘‘[I’ll] push myself in ways I haven’t pushed myself before, in the film room, knowledge of the offense, mechanics and footwork, and hold myself to a whole new level, so I can . . . play the way that I believe I’m capable of playing,’’ he said.
‘‘I just feel like I’m in a good mental space right now. I feel like I’m very locked in . . . so the sooner we can get back and get back with my teammates, the better. I can’t wait.’’
It doesn’t seem there is a next level for Trubisky. That’s the hard truth he keeps tripping over when it counts. We heard most of the same things leading up to last season, when Nagy couldn’t say enough about his progress, only for it to come crashing down on opening night.
Trubisky definitely needs to improve his grasp of the offense and his ability to read defenses — two devastating shortfalls Nagy has volunteered since the end of last season — but the reason he hasn’t already mastered those areas isn’t because he hasn’t tried.
It just hasn’t worked out. It’s not even about the Bears passing on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in the 2017 draft; it’s about Trubisky not being any kind of answer for the long term.
‘‘All I can do is control what I can control this year, and that’s go out and try to have a hell of a year with my teammates,’’ he said. ‘‘I love these guys to death, and I’m excited about this year. Whatever happens after that is out of my control. I just feel good about where I’m at right now.
‘‘I don’t know about the future; no one really does. I’m excited about the possibilities of what can happen, and I feel good about it. I’m just confident about where my career is headed.’’
Confidence is good, but he has had that before, too.
Very little about any of this is new. The only difference is that the Bears now have another quarterback on equal footing with Trubisky, rather than being around just to mentor him. It’s Foles’ time. And, at least for this season, it’s about to be his team.
