Mitchell Trubisky Gets What He Wants with Bears Offense
There's more at work to the rebirth of Mitchell Trubisky than meets the eye.
Trubisky on Wednesday said some of the offensive changes apparent in the Bears offense after he became starter again against Green Bay on Nov. 29 have resulted from his requests.
If he's going to drive the car, he's picking what car he drives. So the moving pocket, the bootleg passes and more throws to David Montgomery and Cole Kmet have resulted from some of Trubisky's input.
"You just gotta get the ball to your playmakers out in space and stretch the field horizontally and vertically but also keeping the defense off balance, and I think the change in tempo really helps this offense," Trubisky said.
Of course, the Bears have used up-tempo before and they continue getting the ball to Allen Robinson, but more passes to Montgomery and Kmet and all of the quarterback motion definitely have taken place since Nick Foles went to the bench with an injury after the Nov. 16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
"I think moving the pocket really helps me and helps our offensive line," Trubisky said. "And also helps create run lanes.
"So these are things I'm very comfortable with, things I've been asking for and I think everyone's buying into it and I think we're starting to build an identity and we just need to keep getting better and better. At the end of the day when we play 11 guys as one and we're playing as a unit and we're executing, that's when the good plays will continue to happen."
With 30 and 36 points in two weeks, the obvious question is why this type of thing wasn't done earlier.
"Yeah, that's a good question," Trubisky said. "I guess you never know. I was asking. I was putting my input in. But you can't change the past, so we are where we are now and the offense is progressing over the last few weeks and all we can do is try to stay on this path that we are now and keep getting better. Can't change the past. I can't put myself back in the game a couple weeks ago or anything like that.
"It's got to continue with this constant communication, having the open dialogue and always doing what is best for the Bears offense."
Montgomery seemed a natural for more work in the passing game. After all, it was part of Matt Nagy's prerequisite when he decided that Jordan Howard had to go in 2019.
"I think just from working with David this offseason and then throwing him routes, I was like, 'We gotta get this guy involved in the pass game,' " Trubisky said "Any way you can get the ball in David's hand in open space that's going to be a good play or a win for the Bears."
The same is true with Kmet, who has nine catches the past two weeks, eight more than he had the first 11 games combined.
"He's just a special player," Trubisky said. "He has the potential to be really great. I think his love for the game, his energy and his overall football IQ is what separates him from most young guys and then I just think his size and strength combined with his speed is what is hard to bring down.
"DBs are just not big enough to tackle him up top and you saw a couple times in the game there literally the whistle is blowing and he's not taken to the ground. They blow the whistle because the forward progress is stopped but he's not on the ground."
And then there's Trubisky's own play in this offense. He said he's consciously become less aggressive downfield as a result of the deep interception he threw into double coverage against Green Bay.
"I think it was a learning experience, pretty much right away coming back in from the Green Bay game when we wanted to be aggressive downfield and you force one into double coverage and then you look back at it and you're like, 'OK, we've got one guy, they've got two, that's not very smart,' " Trubisky said.
He's Trubisky the percentage player.
"So I think that's how you take what the defense gives you and you've got to either find the zones or find the one-on-one matchups and I think that gives you your best chance on offense," he said.
Coach Matt Nagy had said on Monday of this improvement by Trubisky: "It's real."
Trubisky feels it, too.
"What gives me confidence is I think I've felt the offense getting better each week in practice and then also that also translates to the game," he said. "We didn't necessarily win the other two games we played in, but I think you've seen growth and I've felt that growth over the last three weeks."
So now it has to translate into wins, or this will be a season ending after 16 games, and then possibly Trubisky's Bears career ends, as well.
He admitted to having thoughts about that possibility.
"I'm trying to beat the Minnesota Vikings this weekend," Trubisky said. "But I've thought about it, but thoughts come and go and right now I just gotta stay focused on what's about to happen this weekend and that's just preparing every day for the Vikings."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
