Nobody can ever accuse Mitch Trubisky of not working hard. The guy puts in a ton of time to make himself better. He’s often the first one into the building and the last one out. He’ll constantly berate coaches for more information about what he needs to see on a certain play or in a certain situation. Head coach Matt Nagy has said he’s particularly thorough when it comes to his film study, often breaking things down to the point of describing how he wants exact routes run by his receivers.
Peyton Manning was the same way.
Yet it would appear that Trubisky’s film study fanaticism isn’t limited to what he does on the field. The guy is known for being such a perfectionist that Nagy has to remind him during practice that it’s okay to make a mistake and be himself. In fact, the quarterback revealed he is so intent on self-improvement as an NFL player that he actually took his film watching to another level this past year according to Nick Greene of Chicago Magazine.
He’s more circumspect now, but he knows that can lead to canned answers, and so he studies tape of his own press conferences and interviews like they’re an opponent’s defensive schemes. He identifies the words and phrases he tends to overuse, like “for sure,” and he will occasionally catch himself mid-exchange should he let one slip. “I don’t want to make it seem like I’m just regurgitating it back,” he says. “I want to make it sound more like a conversation.” I note that this must require some mental gymnastics, and he replies in the affirmative: “For sure.”
Mitch Trubisky is certainly a man on a mission
Say this for Trubisky, his attention to detail is uncanny. In times past he admitted his work ethic came from his mother, who was notoriously hard on him. He doesn’t hold that against her though. Such tough love was a huge reason he was able to overcome a lot of obstacles to become a 2nd overall pick in the draft, a franchise quarterback, and now a Pro Bowl alternate. His improvement has been steady and noticeable. Hence why expectations are for him to have a big year.
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While nobody can fault him for constantly trying to improve himself, the tape study of his press conferences is certainly a step above what a lot of guys would do. If nothing else, it’s a nice little quirk we got to learn about the young Bears quarterback. Not to mention the results are easy to see. His interviews show a much more mature player with a vocabulary that has expanded quite a bit since his rookie season. Odds are, just like on the field, he’ll get better with time.
