Part of the reason that the Chicago Bears put Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky together is they’re so much alike. Both are enthusiastic leaders of men who love being aggressive. They also showcase a level of competitiveness that borders on obsession. It’s no surprise at all that Nagy made the team slogan of 2018 “Be Obsessed.” Be obsessed with getting better and with winning football games.
That spirit doesn’t just manifest in games either. Trubisky himself has said he’s always trying to win, regardless of where it is, be it in a game or at practice. Teammates have told stories of how much he loves talking trash during drills and burning defenders with a smile on his face. Even Nagy has reportedly gotten into it a few times.
However, those two aren’t the only ones who are competitive or have egos to protect. Those guys on the other side of the ball get paid too. Specifically, the guy coaching them and it seems he’s been giving the new offensive duo some headaches in early practices.
Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky getting plenty of headaches from Vic Fangio
There’s a reason the Bears worked so hard to bring back Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator. He’s one of the best in the business today, dragging one of the worst units in franchise history back to relevance in just three years. The hope is his strong defense along with an improved offense led by Nagy and Trubisky can get this team back to the playoffs.
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There’s nothing in his contract though that says he has to go easy on them in practice. It seems the defense has given the new offense a number of headaches through the first team practices. Nagy, being the diplomatic type, praised Fangio for his work in helping the offense learn quickly.
“Coach [Vic] Fangio and his guys are doing a good job of mixing different coverages and disguising different looks. For Mitchell to be able to see those looks on tape, he’s building his own library right now within this offense.”
Trubisky was a little harder to sway on that subject.
When a reporter brought up the subject of how the defense appears ahead of the offense in practices thus far, the Bears quarterback seemed mildly annoyed with his reply.
“Who said that?”
After being told that both Nagy and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich mentioned it, the quarterback acquiesced a bit.
“Oh did they? It is what it is, we kind of expect that with coach Fangio being here in the past and having a lot of returners back on defense. It’s good for us. It’s just going to make us better on offense. As a competitor, you just take that to heart and come out here and compete in every single drill. At the end of the day we are brothers. We are family. Iron sharpens iron. We just need to know we are in this together in the end.”
It was obvious that admitting it was hard for Trubisky. Competitors don’t like to show weakness. They want to win at everything. Having that sort of person at quarterback is such a beneficial thing for the Bears. The offense may be behind right now, but that’s because they’re new. Fangio’s defense has been in place for three years. This is going to take time.
