Why Time Away Is Never a Good Thing for Mitchell Trubisky
It was just after the Bears routed Buffalo last year, and they were getting prepared to face Detroit in Soldier Field when Mitchell Trubisky reminded everyone about one particular aspect of his game.
"I think the more reps you get I've said before that I'm a big rep guy," Trubisky said. "So the more reps I get I just feel like I get even better and more and more comfortable just recognizing coverage, just seeing the game slow down."
This need by Trubisky to have play repetitions in order to be more effective is supported by at least one statistic which which doesn't reflect well on his chances to take down the New Orleans Saints when the Bears play next on Oct. 20 at Soldier Field.
Trubisky has an 18-12 record as the starting quarterback, including the cameo role he had in beating the Minnesota Vikings during his last start. Yet, he is only 2-5 when he's had to go more than eight days between starts – basically anything longer than an NFL work week.
Trubisky simply hasn't been effective when he's coming off a bye or when he has more than a week to get ready, like the week plus three days they had before their Denver game following a Thursday night season-opening loss to Green Bay.
The same goes for when he starts out a season and he obviously hasn't played beforehand.
Trubisky Coming Off Rest
| Date | Opponent | Result | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct. 9, 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 20-17 L | 1 | 1 |
Nov. 12, 2017 | Green Bay Packers | 23-16 L | 1 | 0 |
Sept. 9, 2018 | Green Bay Packers | 24-23 L | 0 | 0 |
Oct. 14, 2018 | Miami Dolphins | 31-28 L | 3 | 1 |
Dec. 9, 2018 | LA Rams | 15-6 W | 1 | 3 |
Sept. 5, 2019 | Green Bay Packers | 10-3 L | 0 | 1 |
Sept.15, 2019 | Denver Broncos | 16-14 W | 0 | 0 |
In games with more than eight days away from the field, Trubisky has a passer rating of 74.63 which is quite a bit lower than his career 86.9 passer rating. He's completed 136 of 228 for 1,370 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions.
Three of the touchdowns came in one game, the loss at Miami last year.
Trubisky's classic stink bomb of a game came against the Rams after he'd been out for three weeks with a shoulder injury last year. He threw three interceptions, was 16 of 30 for only 110 yards, but in that one the Bears' dominant defense prevailed 15-6 over Los Angeles. Jared Goff was even worse with four picks.
The Bears haven't said for certain if Trubisky is playing against New Orleans, but when they released Tyler Bray and put him back on the practice squad it seemed a sure indication of Trubisky's return.
And if Trubisky plays, it will have been 21 days since his last game.
When he had that career-low passer rating for a single game of 33.0 against the Rams, it had been 21 days since his last action.
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
