On Dec. 18, 2014, Marc Trestman announced that he was benching Jay Cutler and starting Jimmy Clausen. Now that was a quarterback controversy. After a tumultuous season full of conflict and dirty laundry aired in the media, Trestman’s move was widely perceived as a last-chance attempt to win over Bears ownership.
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On Dec. 18, 2020, a week’s worth of curious messaging from quarterback Mitch Trubisky, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and coach Matt Nagy ended before their playoff-like matchup in Week 15 against the Vikings. No, this isn’t quite the same controversy as six years ago, but there’s still a lot to parse.
Here are 10 thoughts on the Bears’ quarterback situation with three games remaining.
1. Trubisky should feel good about what he did against the Texans. And so should the Bears, who ended their six-game losing streak and faintly stayed in the playoff discussion because of it.
The look and feel of the Bears’ offensive attack was different. A good dose of play action, boots and more worked well for the third consecutive week.
“I do feel comfortable,” Trubisky said Wednesday night. “After getting benched and being able to go back in, this is just kind of some of the things I’ve been asking for. I feel like they are strengths of mine and also strengths of this offense. I just thought it was a good idea to get Cole (Kmet) more involved, to get David (Montgomery) more involved, to get (Allen Robinson) more involved. 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. I think moving the pocket really helps me and helps our offensive line. 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.”
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That right there was the quote that set off Bears Twitter. It was fair to wonder what the heck the Bears were doing and why the hell it took so long to do it. Nagy became the target of the most scorn, at least in my mentions.
2. A follow-up question from NBC 5’s Mike Berman to Trubisky also resulted in an interesting answer. Berman essentially asked Trubisky why his coaches hadn’t taken what he said into account earlier on.
“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.”
This right here was a stronger quote. It wasn’t that Trubisky seemed to indicate that his input wasn’t being listened to but it was him saying, “I can’t put myself back in the game a couple weeks ago.”
The season got away from the Bears with Nick Foles under center. The stats and, of course, the results all say that. Foles wasn’t the answer for what ailed the Bears offense. Instead, he played like another problem. His comfort and rhythm were questioned.
3. All of the above might sound like Trubisky throwing Nagy under the bus. But I don’t think he’s doing that, at least not intentionally.
If we’ve learned anything about Trubisky since he was drafted in 2017, that’s not who he is a player or person; it’s not how he operates or functions mentally.
Instead, I think what you have here is a young player who finally feels like his career – his future – is in his own hands and he’s extremely excited about it, especially after getting benched. On top of it, he knows what works for him and what doesn’t in the NFL, at least in this stage of his career.
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Lazor suggested as much. Trubisky apparently used his benching well.
“I’m guessing he took the time when he wasn’t starting to really gather his thoughts,” Lazor said. “You know, step back and evaluate. And so I think it allows him to be very clear and organized in the things that he was most into.”
4. There is definitely a long-time-coming vibe to what Trubisky said. He has publicly voiced his thoughts on what he wants to happen in the Bears’ offense in the past.
Two days before he started his first game since Week 3 against the Packers, Trubisky said he wanted his input to matter.
“That’s been the main thing just coming back,” Trubisky said on Nov. 27. “I just want to make sure that these coaches are hearing what I have to say and taking in to factor the input that I want to have in this offense coming back and just running things that I’m comfortable with and things that I feel like will have success this weekend (against the Packers), so just getting on the same page with coach Lazor.”
This conversation also dates backs to last season. Trubisky made similar comments after the Bears’ 19-14 victory against the Giants. At the time, it felt unintentional. At least, that was my take on what Trubisky said about using an up-tempo offense and moving the pocket after the game.
5. Of course, the counter-argument here is what else does Trubisky have left to lose by saying what he said? While Nagy, on the other hand, has everything to gain by listening to his quarterback.
But that’s only somewhat true. Nagy first showed a willingness to change before Trubisky returned as the Bears’ starter. He handed off his play-calling duties to Lazor for the Bears’ first game against the Vikings and with Foles still under center.
It’s still a difficult decision that he grapples with weekly.
“I’ll always love calling plays,” Nagy said Thursday. “I think that just when you win and you score points offensively, which is what we’ve been doing lately, it definitely is fun, that part’s fun. It allows me to be able to step back and really just kind of see a lot of different things.”
6. This next point might come off as a defense of Nagy — and that’s fine. To me, there is some irony that Nagy needs Trubisky to play a leading role in changing his own narrative after pulling the quick hook on him in Week 3 against the Falcons.
But at the same, I think what you’re seeing is a young coach who is evolving — improving? — in his third season in charge of a team and under some serious pressure. Openness has seemingly replaced stubbornness. Will it last? Well, that’s on Nagy. But he said Friday that he sees growth and change in himself.
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“It’s done a lot for me,” he said. “For me, I just go back to thinking a lot about my rookie year as a head coach in 2018 and so many things happened that you have no idea because you have never experienced it. Now, here I am (in) my third year and I’ve learned so much in so many different areas in this sports world or in this head coaching world. It’s helped me out. …
“You guys know that I told you when I got hired that I keep a journal and I write down and see where I can learn from things and try to get better. I do that all the time and right now, just kind of seeing where we are at offensively, understanding how things are going, I think it’s important to understand that we have to be able to adjust to have things go throughout the year and we are doing that right now.
“The last few games it has been good on offense, which I think helped out our defense, and now our defense doesn’t feel like they have to keep a team under 15-18 points and that just helps your confidence in general. I’m learning a lot, whether it’s delegation or it’s trust, whatever it is, it’s important, and I think I’ve grown a heck of a lot as a head coach from Year 1 to Year 3.”
7. Lazor has an interesting role in all of this and he had an interesting answer to my question about his and the staff’s rapport with Trubisky and the quarterback’s assertiveness.
We’ll go through this in two parts.
“I think Mitch is doing a great job of speaking up and giving his opinion,” Lazor said Thursday. “And it could be very simple things or it could be bigger things … so a bigger thing would be, let’s put it this way, usually a quarterback will know, ‘Man, the head coach really likes this play.’ Mitch has been here for a while, right? And so he’s been with coach for a while so when there’s a play and he really knows that the head coach likes the play, it could be hard for a player to say, ‘Gosh, I don’t like that play this week.’ Or I don’t like how such-and-such player ran that play. Or I don’t like the way their corners play so I’m not sure if that’s a good play this week. And those are usually the reasons why a player wouldn’t like it. Unless it’s new. If something is new, then maybe it takes a guy a little bit.
“But for Mitch, like right now, I have great confidence that if Mitch really isn’t feeling something, he’ll say it. He’ll just say it; it’s not a big deal. And that communication I think is what you strive for with professional players.”
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My feeling is that wasn’t always the case with Trubisky. It’s about more than providing input but challenging certain elements of a plan if you see it fit.
If you think back to last season, Nagy continuously tried to light a fire under Trubisky, from yelling at him on the sidelines against Washington, to suggesting that he watch the broadcast copy of the loss against the Chargers to pulling him late (albeit because of an injury) in the loss to the Rams.
Trubisky is beyond fired up right now.
8. The second part of Lazor’s answer also was telling as he went about the process of building a game plan and the play calls.
“And I’ll also say that it’s not equal,” he said. “Not every player gets the same say. I mean, that’s real clear I think. I mean, guys have to earn the ability. I’m not saying I won’t listen to you but you’ve got to prove, right, that you’ve earned the ability to help have input. So I would say it’s a fair system but it’s clearly not equal and shouldn’t be equal. Guys who earn a little bit more input start to get it, and then over time, that happens. If it gets abused then there are ramifications but ideally that’s how the NFL works because you’re dealing with adults, hopefully.”
Lazor’s time with Trubisky is limited to this season. But the point he’s making seems to suggest that Trubisky developed in some capacity during this season. Trubisky not only knows what he wants but he’s also articulating it in a way that’s resonating with the coaching staff.
Asked about it, Nagy said that “earned” is a “great word.”
“For a guy that’s played in different offenses and (Trubisky’s) played a lot of different games in his career, the more time you’re in this thing the more you’re going to have an opinion in regards to whether you’re going to like the play or not,” he said Thursday. “So for instance, somebody that comes into a system that has no idea anything about the concepts, they’re not necessarily going to give an opinion because they don’t know anything about the play.
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“But when you’re in the offense and you start learning more and more and more and you start seeing more and more defenses, you can be way more opinionated. And what we see in practice, the success or the good and the bad of that play with you in that spot, we can accept your opinion. I think that’s probably what Bill’s saying when you say he said ‘earned.’ And that’s across the board in any position. But obviously we deal more with that with the quarterbacks.”
In other words, Trubisky has apparently earned that right to have his input enacted by Lazor and Nagy. Losing six games in a row can change all minds, but I don’t think this is forced. The Bears should prefer to see it as a sign of Trubisky’s potential development.
9. Lazor was sure to describe the Bears’ offense as “Nagy’s offense.” But he also described a new process for game planning and play calling.
“It’s evolved a little bit as the year has gone on,” Lazor said.
To me, this is another indication of Nagy’s potential evolution. Lazor is the one calling the plays on game days but Nagy’s influence remains paramount.
“Where I think we’ve been better is the collaboration in between drives,” Nagy said. “So, where there’s more talk about what we’re seeing, some adjustments from drive to drive instead of quarter to quarter or half to half. That part I think has been really good. I also think it’s been good with the players’ side of just hearing input from them. In regards to the calling the plays, getting the plays in and the tempo of that, I think that it’s just been good. I think you can see that, you feel it.”
10. On Monday, Nagy was asked about Trubisky’s future and he brought up Alex Smith. His winding career path going from San Francisco to Kansas City to Washington has featured plenty of wins but also some “rough patches,” he said.
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But what struck me is how Smith has been and always will be Nagy’s strongest point of reference for all quarterbacks because they were together for five years.
Nagy didn’t develop Smith with the Chiefs. Smith was in his ninth to 13th seasons in the NFL when Nagy was his position coach and offensive coordinator.
Add it all up and it’s probably why Nagy was drawn to Foles and his experience after the 2019 season went awry with Trubisky. The pressure to win in the NFL can be intense, and the hope surely was that Foles could produce similar results as Smith.
As it turns out, Foles’ failures could arguably become the best thing that’s happened to Nagy the head coach and offensive mind. It’s evident in what the Bears are running offensively, particularly with moving Trubisky’s launch points and with Lazor calling plays.
“Just with the background that I came from in Kansas City and just some of the things we did, there wasn’t as much of that,” Nagy said.
In the end, it’s apparent that Nagy needs Trubisky right now but also that Trubisky needs him. Nagy is arguably developing as a coach while Trubisky shows signs of development as a quarterback. There are three games remaining for them to show if it has some staying power.
(Photo: Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)