The Chicago Bears are in a bad way. It doesn’t take a genius to realize this. They have one of the worst offenses in the NFL and a defense that is down one of their best players and is being forced to play 35-40 minutes every week. It’s the type of situation that can breed a lot of bitterness in a locker room. This franchise isn’t unfamiliar with that. The 1963 defense was famous for heckling their own offense to “Just hold ’em” until they could get some rest before going back out and doing all the work.
It’s approaching that sort of situation now. However, the defense might not be alone in this entire situation. Plenty of blame is getting thrown around, but most of it is directed at quarterback Mitch Trubisky. He looks like the shell of the player who finished 2018 with 300 yards and a TD in the playoffs against Philadelphia. He’s missing throws and reads at an alarming rate and his confidence appears completely shot. Through half the season he has five TD passes. Five. It’s hard to win like that in today’s NFL.
One has to think Trubisky has lost all credibility in the locker room, right?
Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog has a strong reputation for accurate reporting on certain issues regarding the team in the past. He was the first on the news that Harry Hiestand would become the team’s offensive line coach in 2018. So it’s safe to say he has some decent sources.
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This is why it was eye-opening when he countered a statement made by head coach Matt Nagy in his Monday press conference regarding the team’s confidence in Trubisky. Suffice to say? It’s clear the 25-year old quarterback has indeed lost the faith of his teammates.
Hard to blame Chicago Bears players for reaching this point
People shouldn’t be surprised by this. Nagy is not going to admit to divisions in the locker room whether they exist or not. His job is to keep them in-house and try to get this team back into the win column. This does beg the question though. If Trubisky is struggling so much, why don’t the Bears just bench him in favor of Chase Daniel? Obviously the veteran backup isn’t the ideal solution but he might give the offense a better chance to at least function.
The simple answer is there’s really no point. Chicago is 3-5 and with a stacked NFC the odds of them making the playoffs would require winning all their remaining games. That isn’t happening. Nagy likely thinks the time is better spent making absolutely 100% sure that Trubisky is not their guy. This way when the offseason begins the Bears can move on knowing they gave the kid every opportunity.
That may sound nice in theory, but it may not go over as well in a locker room of players who want to win.
