Matt Nagy isn’t ready to give up on Mitchell Trubisky as Bears franchise quarterback

Chicago Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy had some interesting things to say about his quarterback Mitchell Trubisky at the NFL combine.

The Chicago Bears have gone out of their way to not blame their entire offensive struggles on quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Seemingly every time Matt Nagy is asked about his quarterback, he pitches the it-is-not-on-one-person narrative.

This week was no different.

"“Offensively, we know we struggled in a lot of different areas, but were about fixing it,” Nagy said. “If we are ok with what we did last year, then we are in the wrong place and we’re not. So how do we fix it? We get good minds together that talk it through, we are real with each other. This wasn’t a good play. This wasn’t about the players, this was about the coaches. When you can do that and show accountability, then you continue to build that trust. So our goal is to be a lot better offensively. And if that’s less is more, then great.”"

Less is more. Hmmm.

Those are the words of a coach who knows that he can no longer continue to overload his quarterback with a full playbook. Trubisky has proven he can’t handle it. The Bears need to simplify the offense, but how much?

Nagy can redo the offense, but he needs Trubisky to get better so he has something to work with. The 2018 NFL Head Coach of the year laid out an immediate plan for his quarterback who will be going into his 4th year, a make or break season.

"“Get on the film and really hammer through what he is looking at. I think that for him, the processing part, you have to get to a point where you are so obsessed that no matter what you are doing you are always watching film. We are at a point now, that before they get back in here in April, he is a complete expert. He needs to know it better than me. That’s the goal and he will tell you that wasn’t the case last year. That’s not a slight on him, he is in year two of it, but I want to make sure that’s where he gets to in the future.”"

It actually is a slight on Trubisky, two years is an eternity in the NFL. Give Nagy credit though, he acknowledged a lot there. Trubisky doesn’t know the offense well enough. Trubisky hasn’t spent enough time in the film room. Trubisky needs to be more obsessed.

Nagy also knows that Trubisky does not want to be blamed for the offense being at the bottom of the NFL. There were only three teams in the NFL that scored fewer points and gained fewer yards than the Chicago Bears. It wasn’t just Trubisky; the offensive line struggled, the tight end position was woeful and the Bears could not run the ball consistently.

"“I know Mitch is very hungry,” Nagy said. “He knows we want him to play better. He understands that we want to coach better. We cannot worry and dwell about what happened last year. You do that you get stuck in mud. We gotta get better for this year.”"

Matt Nagy and his new offensive staff are trying to figure out the best way forward. They know their quarterback is limited. They need Trubisky to meet them halfway. Nagy will continue to say nice things for the time being.

"“He is young still and I know we keep saying that, but he is,” Nagy said. “You give direction and he needs to follow it and that’s gonna be what we are really focused on is making sure that he does that. Don’t worry about results, who cares? Worry about the process, and if he does that, we will be in good shape.”"

Maybe. All Nagy can really do is hope that is the case.