Mitch Trubisky has thrown some interceptions over the course of Chicago Bears training camp. It has a lot of fans who have watched from the sidelines grow nervous. Is their young quarterback not making as much progress as hoped. Is he repeating all of the mistakes he seemed to suffer from in 2018? Not necessarily. It’s true that Trubisky has made some bad throws in camp, but all of them can’t be chalked up to him simply not being sharp enough.
There are a few other factors in play. For one, he’s playing against the best defense in football. Particularly a secondary that now features two All-Pros (Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller), a former Pro Bowler (Ha Ha Clinton-Dix), and a former 1st round pick and Super Bowl champion (Prince Amukamara). That is a lot of talent and experience to throw against in practice.
Especially when those defenders have seen the offensive plays enough times to know what’s coming. However, there is something else that hasn’t been considered. Maybe some of these decisions are premeditated. Matt Nagy hinted at it after practice when questions on his quarterback came up.
“We have a big picture. There’s going to be some balls in here (where) there’s interceptions. I said it last year. We don’t get frustrated over that. We’re testing some things out. That’s your guys’s job to be critical of him and me. We know how to balance that. We know what’s real and what’s not real. That’s what we do.”
Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone elaborated to Adam Jahns of The Athletic. It seems Trubisky, like the good soldier he is, has operated under orders from above.
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“We look at it completely different, and we tell the quarterback that,” quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone said. “Hey, push the envelope. See what you can get away with. See if you can make that throw to A-Rob and if you felt like you could, but you just missed it, try it again. That’s a big thing for us.”
Chicago Bears maintain the long view on Trubisky
Here’s the thing about camp interceptions. They mean exactly nothing. Trubisky could throw 10 of them every day and it would have absolutely no impact on the team’s season outcome. Sure it would cause a panic for the fans and media, but it’s important to maintain perspective. Training camp is a time to hone one’s craft, sure. However, it’s also a time to experiment with new things.
The Bears already know what Trubisky could do well from last season. What purpose does it serve to keep running those plays over and over? They should be thinking about adding to the inventory. The more plays that Trubisky can execute successfully, the harder it will be for opposing defenses to stop him. That is was camp can be used for. If the Bears defense blows a play up or picks it off? Toss it out. If it works, slot it into the playbook.
There is no better barometer in the NFL for such a process. Nagy and his staff are wise for taking advantage of it.
