(670 The Score) For Ryan Pace, the Bears naming Mitchell Trubisky their starting quarterback revived an ongoing debate over the general manager's credibility.
For coach Matt Nagy, it reinforced the need for practicality.
For the Bears organization, the decision to start Trubisky over veteran Nick Foles definitely should intensify the pressure on Pace and Nagy, two individuals who presided over the NFL's fourth-worst offense in 2019 but spent the offseason apparently pretending someone else took those snaps. Not even leaking the biggest preseason news to a national reporter on the Friday night of a holiday weekend could bury Week 1's bold, 128-point headline at Halas Hall: NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
This was so Bears, getting Foles to restructure his contract and guaranteeing him $21 million in a trade with the Jaguars for a fourth-round draft pick, only to make him the league's most expensive arm off the bench. That's top dollar for a reliever in MLB, let alone the NFL.
This might be easier to understand from the outside if the Bears weren't sitting a former Super Bowl MVP for a quarterback who, in 41 NFL regular-season starts, frankly hasn't done enough to justify making a 42nd. Not now, not yet, not after Trubisky directed a Bears offense that averaged a measly 17.5 points and 296.8 yards per game last season – which ranked 29th in the NFL in both categories. No other Bears offensive position group improved its personnel that dramatically to think the same quarterback can produce markedly different results.
The pandemic deprived Foles the benefit of OTAs and a preseason schedule to develop a comfort level with Nagy's play-calling and his receivers' route-running. Those limitations favored Trubisky, the incumbent, who didn't have to wait until deep into summer before introducing himself to anybody on the roster. This isn't an excuse for Foles, who doesn't make them. This is a plausible explanation for why the Bears decided to stick with a starting quarterback whom NFL.com ranked 30th overall last season.
And if Foles failed to look sharper than Trubisky during the compressed training camp, as some observers insist, it's fair to wonder whether splitting repetitions contributed to that outcome. Would it have made any difference naming Foles the starter on the day the Bears traded for him rather than hold a so-called competition that required a different approach? Maybe, maybe not. The point is moot now that the Bears will open the first game of 2020 on Sunday against the Lions with the same quarterback who helped make the 2019 season such a disappointment.
Remember that Trubisky's regression last year convinced the Bears not to pick up his fifth-year option – the ultimate show of no-confidence. They appeared to enter the offseason at the most opportune time for a franchise in perpetually desperate need of help at the position, with many factors conspiring to create the most flooded NFL quarterback market ever.
Somehow, the Bears still wound up designating Trubisky as QB1.
Somehow, they talked themselves out of every other conceivable option that would've been easier to accept. In their minds, Tom Brady was too old – and probably too unattainable. Philip Rivers was too stationary. Teddy Bridgewater was too expensive. Cam Newton was too injured. Marcus Mariota was too inconsistent. Jameis Winston was too erratic. Andy Dalton was too ordinary. Should I stop? But Foles had a history with Nagy and several new offensive coaches, so the Bears found a way to finagle him out of Jacksonville after one unhappy and unhealthy season. Maybe it wasn't ideal but, after an 8-8 season that felt like 4-12 for the Bears, any alternative seemed like an improvement.
To his credit, Foles has been everything that former teammates and coaches promised as a teammate. It came as no surprise that Foles called Trubisky to congratulate him for winning the starting job – nor that Nagy delivering Foles the bad news turned into a 90-minute conversation. Foles is the guy you want sitting next to you on an airplane when turbulence hits.
Chances are, Foles still will have a big say in how good the Bears offense becomes this season. But please stop yourself before endorsing the idea that the Bears' decision makes sense because Foles can handle getting beaten out easier than Trubisky. No football coach worth his whistle puts a player in a leadership role because he considers him too fragile psychologically to handle a demotion.
As for Trubisky, all he really deserves is the clean slate he requested after winning the job. We should all try wiping the slate clean with Trubisky. To Trubisky's credit, he returned to Lake Forest with a more obvious edge publicly, a subtle change that will only matter if his accuracy and footwork are just as noticeable. Problem is, nothing that happens at practice for Trubisky impresses anyone in Chicago anymore. The only evidence worth evaluating will come on Sundays. The obvious presence Pace detected before and after practices means nothing without command in games.
On the same night the news about Trubisky broke last week, Cubs ace Yu Darvish was pitching another gem at Wrigley Field. It offered a good reminder in our passionate sports city how once-maligned players can always change their narrative in this town. One of Chicago's most polarizing figures in a 2018 season defined by disappointment, Darvish was a symbol of unmet expectations easier to "BOO" than "YU!" Now, he's a leading Cy Young Award candidate. Granted, Darvish possesses more elite talent as a pitcher than Trubisky has as a quarterback, but his redemption carries a message seen often in professional athletes: Failure can precede success. It's what we love about sports, the greatest reality show going.
That's the opportunity Trubisky can now embrace in his leading role. He will need the best of Nagy, who must prove he learned from last season's mistakes. Nagy must accept what Trubisky is and isn't but, even more importantly, what his offense can and can't become with the quarterback he chose to start. Help Mitch help Matt.
The burden falls on Nagy to step out of his comfort zone and creatively design game plans that accentuate Trubisky's strengths even if they don't suit Nagy's personality. He needs to help unlock the potential so many NFL executives – including Nagy's boss – saw in Trubisky before the 2017 NFL Draft.
Move the pocket. Trust Trubisky's legs as much as his arm. Incorporate play-action passes. Lean on the running game to improve the passing game. Realize that Trubisky needs to do little more than elevate the offense from the NFL's bottom third into the middle tier for the Bears to ride their defense into the playoffs.
Because, in reality, the Bears must now make the playoffs in 2020 or consider major changes, a fact underscored by sticking with the quarterback forever tied to Pace. Starting Trubisky after so much mediocrity smacks slightly of organizational stubbornness, an unwillingness to change contrary to everything trading for Foles represented. Replacing Trubisky with, well, almost anyone would've announced Pace and Nagy were hitting reset at 1920 Football Drive. Instead, the 2020 season threatens more of the same old status quo.
This didn't have to be a playoffs-or-bust season for the Bears.
But it feels like Pace and Nagy just raised the stakes.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on Twitter @DavidHaugh.
