The Restrictive Bears Offense

Since regular season ended, there have been cryptic and somewhat more obvious rips taken at former Bears coach Matt Nagy for his way of doing things at Halas Hall before his firing.

Allen Robinson seemed to head those criticisms.

Watch Allen Robinson Explain Why He Believes Matt Nagy Deliberately Sabotaged Him On Purpose With Offensive Scheme (Tweets) https://t.co/k9jg2aqEKr pic.twitter.com/johOsM4bsc
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) February 17, 2022

Now, in an article for ESPN-Plus written by Jeremy Fowler, Mitchell Trubisky took his turn.

Trubisky stayed above the fray last year when he returned to Soldier Field for a preseason game against his old team but now suggests too many restrictions with the Bears on offense under Nagy led to issues.

"Going to Buffalo really opened my eyes," Trubisky told Fowler. "After being in Chicago for four years, there was only one way I knew how to do things.

"(Being) in Buffalo and (having) a different way of doing things, you learn what's possible. It helped me get back to instinctual football and using my talents rather than overthinking."

Was listening to @SiriusXMNFL a few min ago and @PatKirwan_NFL is missing the boat on Allen Robinson. ARob has not lost spd, he was basically phased out of Bears O in ‘21 because of $. He’s still an 80-90 catch WR if not more with most clubs. He’s only 28
— Greg Gabriel (@ggabefootball) February 22, 2022

How Trubisky got back to instinctual football by throwing just eight passes and completing six for 75 yards is somewhat of a mystery. That was the sum total of his regular season.

Possibly being in OTAs, training camp and preseason helped him but the starter takes almost all the regular-season practice snaps.

Trubisky did manage to throw an interception in the regular season despite throwing only eight passes.

Trubisky did torch his old team during preseason on the field, but preseason games involve no game-planning and the play calls are basically whatever the play caller grabs off the sheet that day. The only thing resembling real football is tackling, helmets and the uniforms. The players are different in most cases, as well. He went 20 of 28 for 221 yards and a touchdown starting against the Bears when Josh Allen sat.

Now Trubisky feels he's ready to compete for a starting spot again somewhere.

"You can't be afraid to make mistakes," Trubisky said. "When guys are playing free, you can be at your best. I wanted to learn how (the Bills) helped Josh, and I saw that firsthand."

Fowler suggested Trubisky could turn up with the Giants and Brian Daboll to compete with Daniel Jones for a starting spot.

"I'm in a confident space right now," Trubisky told Fowler.

The story quoted an unnamed AFC executive as saying Trubisky could be a starter again.

"He'll have to go out there and earn it, but there's certainly enough there where the right offense can accommodate him," the unnamed AFC executive said in the story. "The offense in Chicago was pretty rigid and on-script, and I'm not sure it suited him."

It didn't even seem to suit Nick Foles, and he was brought there with the offense in mind because he knew how it was supposed to work.

The Bears are going to be in the market for a backup quarterback now, as well.

A return to Halas Hall to compete for his old job against Justin Fields, who enjoyed only sporadic success as a rookie, seems unlikely but then again the "restrictive " Nagy is no longer on the grounds.

CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin on Tuesday released a story pointing to possible homes for this year's free agent quarterbacks who have starting experience but the Bears are not a possibility for Trubisky in this story.

Besides the Giants, the other potential suitors for Trubisky were viewed as the 49ers, the Commanders, the Texans and the Broncos.

The CBS article did not name the Bears as a possible landing spot for any of the free agent quarterbacks who were listed, and they are going to be looking for a backup since Andy Dalton is a free agent and Foles has been rumored to be leaving Chicago since last season.

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