Mitchell Trubisky Trying to Turn Criticism into Fuel
It wasn't quite a "turn off the TVs" at Halas Hall moment, but Mitchell Trubisky caused a few chuckles nonetheless.
Apparently the constant criticism Trubisky seems to receive from media, social media, fans and analysts of all types continues to strike a sore spot.
Just before the beginning of his teleconference Friday with media members who cover the Bears, Trubisky was naturally told by a team official the reporters on the Zoom conference call were muted.
"Nice," Trubisky said, enjoying himself a bit with a smile on his face.
He was kidding then, but Trubisky makes no bones about being less than happy about his critics.
He is a man on a mission this season, although there's a guy named Nick Foles to contend with before he can do any proving to anyone.
"For me it's very motivating, Trubisky said. "You're always going to have people writing you off. It's got to light a fire under you which it has for me, and I'm just trying to prove everybody wrong and prove my teammates right."
Trubisky has been ranked 38th among all NFL quarterbacks by Chris Simms of NBC Sports, the son of Phil Simms. Analyst Michael Lombardi, who once said, "You couldn’t get me to buy Mitchell Trubisky if you had him on a discount rack at Filene’s Basement," continues to berate the Bears' quarterback. Bleacher Report ranked the Bears' quarterback situation the 28th "best" in the league.
Pro Football Focus seems to have let up on its constant Trubisky bashing of late, but only because they discount him completely and consider Nick Foles the starting quarterback.
Even NFL.com has been hard on Trubisky.
The Bears didn't exactly give him a vote of confidence by refusing to pick up his fifth-year contract option. He easily has the best statistics of any quarterback whose fifth-year option was declined without an injury being a consideration.
"There is just so much hard work that goes into it," Trubisky said. "And for people who write you off, I mean, that definitely motivates you in a way that you just want to go out there and play as best you possibly can.
"So I’m definitely fired up. And I just …"
Trubisky stopped talking and made a kind of charged up sound.
"You've got to make it happen," he said.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
