Where did it go wrong with Mitch Trubisky in 2019? Everything seemed set up for him to have a big year. He finished the previous season on a high note. He’d thrown for over 300 yards against Philadelphia in the wild card round. The first Chicago Bears QB ever to do so. He drove the team into a position to win the game before Cody Parkey ruined it.
If anything few came out looking better in that game than Trubisky. Yet everything seemed to go wrong last season. It was bad fundamentals, it was bad decision-making, it was a sudden passive nature, and it was an injury. Yet what stood out most of all to a lot of people was how lost the 25-year old seemed to be. He was playing with the swagger he’d displayed the year before.
Well, that seems to be the case. How do we know for sure? Trubisky himself basically admitted to it during his recent press conference, explaining why he was able to hold off Nick Foles and improve as much as he has.
“I think I just found my confidence this offseason when I figured out it was going to be a competition. I mean, something had to change from last year to this year. I think it was getting healthy, how I trained this offseason, how I approached it mentally, just talking to my support cast and family and friends and reaching out for advice.
I just found my confidence again. You have to believe in yourself for your teammates and other people to believe in you. So I just came in here with a different attitude and mindset and how I’m going to approach this season. There’s going to be no regrets. I’m not even worried about outcomes. I’m just worried about putting my best foot forward and staying in that mindset to allow you to play really good football.”
It’s not like this is a huge revelation. Anybody who watched Trubisky last season could plainly see he’d lost confidence. For him to openly admit it though is certainly a surprise. Where did it all go wrong? Some think it was his up-and-down training camp. A month that featured a lot of interceptions. However, most would probably agree it was opening night against Green Bay.
Facing a team the Bears had beaten for the division just a few months before, the offense came out shockingly flat with just three points all night. Trubisky managed just 228 yards and an interception despite throwing the ball 48 times. It was an ugly night and set the tone for the rest of the season. He never seemed to recover from it.
Part of why the Bears traded for Foles and declined his 5th year option was out of hope they would snap him out of his funk. By the sound of things, the tactic was a success. Whether it yields productive results in actual games? We shall see.
