The decision to name Mitch Trubisky was simple — and it wasn’t.
“Mitch won the job,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said Sunday afternoon in his first public comments since making the decision to pick him over Nick Foles on Friday. “I think that’s very important for him, to us, to understand that he worked very hard to get to this point.”
Why did he beat out Foles? Nagy cited Trubisky improved his footwork, pocket presence and decision-making during training camp. He said Trubisky finished training camp strong.
“You could feel the command,” Nagy said. “And I think the difference in the command that I felt, and that our coaches felt, was, it’s one where it’s very natural. It wasn’t made up. It wasn’t being told from somebody how to act. It was just very organic.”
While Nagy wouldn’t say that Foles disappointed during training camp, he acknowledged the difficulty he faced in not being able to connect with teammates during the extended offseason.
Nagy tried to frame the Trubisky decision as a feel-good story, citing the struggles — albeit self-imposed — that the quarterback has gone through the past nine months.
After Trubisky’s disappointing 2019, the Bears traded for Foles and decided not to pick up Trubisky’s fifth-year option.
Trubisky said he made the decision to focus on the best way to stay positive during a difficult offseason. He said the challenge to his starting job “pushed me every day.”
“I truly believe that it was part of my journey, something I had to deal with to get better,” Trubisky said.
Trubisky said he feels like he has a “fresh, new, clean slate” this season.
“It’s just the first step in my goal for this season,” he said.” It was a good battle. I can’t say enough about how Nick handled the whole thing. It was a tough situation to be in.”
Foles said he’s willing to share “whatever wisdom I can give him.” After Nagy told him Trubisky had won the starting job, Foles called the starter to say congratulations.
“I know we’re all eager to get ready for this year and play this weekend,” Trubisky said.” So it’s time to roll, and we’ve just got to continue this mindset and stay mentally focused in this place to go out there and play great football.”
