Mitch Trubisky put in a ton of work during the offseason to get himself ready for training camp. He worked out religiously. Chicago Bears coaches came back with glowing reviews of his physical conditioning. Yet what really caught the attention of people a few weeks ago was when video surfaced of a mysterious man working with the QB. Who was it?
Swift research revealed his name was Jeff Christiansen, a local quarterback trainer who runs the successful Throw It Deep program. Other pros including Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes sought out his services. He has a reputation for being a stickler for fundamentals and footwork. He feels the more a QB focuses on those things, the less they worry about everything else. This gets them to react more naturally, leading to better execution.
Trubisky was finally asked the question about his work with Christiansen. The QB spoke glowingly of the veteran trainer and feels the work has gotten him to actually play the quarterback position better than ever before.
“Working with Jeff has been awesome, too, just how he coaches the quarterback position and how much he knows about just getting back to the simple mechanics of the game. I really haven’t ever adjusted my mechanics, but working with him, I feel like my footwork and mechanics have gotten a lot better.”
Mitch Trubisky is frantically trying to clear the final hurdle
Timing is everything in the NFL. It seems that for the past three years, Trubisky did work on his fundamentals but he never seemed to fully grasp why they were so important. Too often his footwork would get sloppy and his throws would sail on him. How many times did he overthrow a wide open receiver in 2019 alone? That’s not a question fans want to ponder.
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Now with his job clearly on the line, it seems the 25-year old at last understands the gravity of what he’s doing. Reviewing his game film coupled with relentless coaching has helped him to grasp how critical mechanics and footwork are to success in the NFL. Being a good athlete with a strong arm won’t cut it. There is a difference between being a quarterback and a thrower of the football.
Right now Trubisky is the latter. Christiansen got him starter on the road to becoming the former.