Why are the Chicago Bears benching Mitch Trubisky? That’s the overarching question people have asked for three weeks now. Truth be told many have asked it since the end of preseason. It was clear even then that the rookie out of North Carolina was far and away the most talented QB on the roster. He outplayed Mike Glennon in every category.
Yet nothing changed. He was relegated to backup and Glennon got “his year” as promised. One month later and his year has turned into the Bears’ nightmare. Through four games he has eight turnovers and looked every bit like the backup he’s been the past two seasons. Now the Bears may have no choice but to make the change.
The question still remains though. Why haven’t they already?
Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune alluded to it during his recent article. He talked about how several members of the Bears roster and coaching staff are talking about making “changes.” It was then he dropped a fascinating nugget regarding the issue of why the rookie hasn’t played yet.
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“In recent weeks, Fox has insinuated that he doesn’t have full say in when Trubisky can or will be turned loose. But there’s a growing sense that the coach may want to give the rookie his shot soon. Friday, as Fox bobbed and weaved and successfully dodged most direct questions about his quarterback situation, he was asked how he can gauge Trubisky’s readiness to start.”
This would seem to hint that GM Ryan Pace and the Bears higher ups are making it clear they don’t want Trubisky to play yet. That may sound a bit far-fetched, but when one starts to connect the dots it really isn’t.
Previous rumors start to clear up benching Mitch Trubisky situation
Let’s start with the first big rumor that surfaced back in April. The Bears had just stunned the NFL world with their decision to trade up for Trubisky. It was then news broke via Chris Mortensen on ESPN that Fox didn’t know about the move until a couple hours before it was to take place.
Wow. Per @mortreport, even @ChicagoBears coach John Fox didn’t know about plan to draft QB Mitchell Trubisky until a couple hours before.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) April 28, 2017
This sort of thing actually happened to Fox once before. It was in 2010 when he admitted to having minimal involvement with the Carolina Panthers in drafting Jimmy Clausen. After the season was over Fox was fired. Could the Bears already be planning for that same move? Do they not want the coach having any influence on their young quarterback?
This would go a long way towards explaining their significant investments in Mike Glennon and Mark Sanchez. Both are veterans with prior starting experience. From the perspective of Pace it would placate Fox and his staff while keeping Trubisky where the GM wants him. On the bench and awaiting the arrival of the next head coach.
This might explain why the Bears overpaid to get them.
So why would Pace be so hesitant to let Trubisky play?
Then the question inevitably shifts to the reasoning. Why would Pace do this? There are no facts to clear it up, but one can speculate. Likely it’s a variety of factors. For starters he may not trust Fox with Trubisky’s development. A fair criticism since Fox has never successfully drafted and developed a rookie in his career as a head coach.
Then there’s also personal philosophy. Pace has admitted he’d like to wait on playing him, preferring to let him learn from the bench for as long as possible. If one were to do some digging, they’d find he’s directly influenced by several quarterbacks who did just that.
Drew Brees, the man whom Pace uses as a benchmark, did not start a single game his rookie year. Aaron Rodgers, who has crushed the dreams of Chicago for years, didn’t start until his fourth season. Tom Brady, the greatest of all-time, didn’t start until his second year. Also don’t forget Tony Romo, a former teammate of Pace at Eastern Illinois. He signed with the Cowboys in 2003 and didn’t start until 2006.
Those are four pretty good quarterbacks Pace knows well. All of them had to wait for their shot. So it would make sense he’d want the same for Trubisky. Put everything together and it starts to make sense why the Bears have stuck with Glennon this far.
