Sammich
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Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky was candid and insightful in his news conference Thursday that bridged the heartbreaking loss to the Packers to Monday night’s home opener against the Seahawks.
Here are five notable takeaways from the session:
1. Trubisky understands that the public is inclined to treat every game as a referendum on his capability as a franchise quarterback. But he leaves the hand-wringing to outsiders.
“I can’t let any game, any play define who I am as a player or as a person,” he said. “I’m continuing to grow and get better. Each opportunity is just another day to get better and continue to grow, but that’s how people are looking at it. We want immediate results, everybody — the media, the fans, myself — but unfortunately that’s not always part of it.
“So I’ve just got to continue to work, get better every single day and realize that’s the kind of level we’re at and those are the expectations. But I’m not going to hold any extra pressure over my head or do anything more. I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do, and hopefully people will understand. But I think I understand the situation that I’m in and what all comes with it.”
2. Trubisky’s decision not to throw to uncovered tight end Trey Burton in the end zone on third-and-goal in the first quarter Sunday was a matter of risk-reward.
“I’m sure everyone saw what I saw, and they’re like, ‘Oh, Mitch, throw to the wide-open guy in the back of the end zone!’” Trubisky said. “Trust me, I wish I would (have).
“Tarik (Cohen) was the first option in the flat. It’s one of those plays where (you think), ‘How risky are you going to be? Are you going to take care of the football?’ I checked it down, we lost 5 yards, but we got three points out of it and went up 10-0. So that was the big positive takeaway for me.
“But moving forward, if I want to evolve into the quarterback I want to be, you’ve got to take the opportunity, and I’ve got to anticipate that even more. That wasn’t something that happened in practice at all that week. But you’ve got to know as a quarterback if that opens up, take your chances and get it to the guy wide open.
“But it’s a little less wide open when you’re playing it full (speed) on film. When you’ve got the still picture, which I’m sure a lot of people saw, it looks like I don’t know what I’m doing. Trust me, I’m hard on myself. You want touchdowns, not field goals. But I thought I put myself and my team in a good position in that instance, first quarter, check it down, three points, we’re up 10-0.”
3. Trubisky wants to change his mindset in two-minute drill situations after evaluating how he approached the failed final possession against the Packers.
“I was thinking: Try to make a big play, like win the game right here,” he said. “And it should have been for me personally, I think, just stack completions. Get one more completion, one more first down. And then when you get that first down, just another first down. And like we saw from the other team, you just dink it down underneath and a missed tackle can turn into a big play.
“I should have had more of a completion mindset instead of trying to do too much. And that comes from me. I’ve just got to stay within myself, stay within the offense, fire completions and move in the two-minute drill.
“It was a great learning experience. I don’t think you ever will get that exact situation in practice with the noise, the stage and all that. So it was a great learning experience for me and I’m definitely going to take it with me. I’m itching for the next two-minute drill in practice and in the next game, whenever, to prove myself and get the opportunity again. But I definitely have a new mindset: take care of the football but just move the ball down the field because we had plenty of time.”
4. After acknowledging he had “happy feet” at times against the Packers, Trubisky will focus this week on being calmer in the pocket.
“It comes from me wanting to take care of the football, and then not taking sacks,” Trubisky said. “Yes, (escaping the pocket) helps our offense in some areas, but it can also get me into trouble when I don’t need to. I’ve got to find a kind of happy medium. And in practice it’s going to be pocket movement, moving around defenders in the pocket and continuing to keep my eyes downfield so you can find receivers. You try to simulate that as much as possible, but the best place to do that is in the game. I just take a bunch of notes on the game film, and just keep in my head when would be a good time to move.
“But I’m going to continue to use my natural ability, keep plays alive, because there could be a lot more big plays from a scramble as well. But I’m trying to stay in the pocket and become a lot better passer in the pocket and continue to move around, very subtle movements with calm feet, to find receivers. That’d be something I’ll be working on in my career, but definitely more emphasis this week.”
5. Trubisky is mindful of controlling his emotions in situations like the Packers game, when opportunities are being missed.
“Sometimes it’s good to show emotions,” he said. “My teammates need to see even more that I’m locked in in intensity throughout the game and definitely at practice so they can feed off it.
“But there’s other times you just need to remain cool calm and collected, and I think that’s more natural and better, what I’m better at. But last year it was more, ‘Oh, he’s a rookie, growing pains.’ And then now it’s a little different because it’s like, ‘Oh, second year, why isn’t the offense exploding?’
“And I ask myself some of those same questions, ‘Why aren’t I playing as well as I’d like to?’ But if I’m too hard on myself, then I just get discouraged and then it goes from playing OK to playing worse, instead of, yeah, it’ll downward spiral.
“So just try to stay positive and just keep that belief that we’re going to get over the hump, and then we’ll start getting all the plays and everything that it’s designed for. Everything that I believe that I can do, and that this offense can do.”
-Rich Campbell - Chicago Tribune
Here are five notable takeaways from the session:
1. Trubisky understands that the public is inclined to treat every game as a referendum on his capability as a franchise quarterback. But he leaves the hand-wringing to outsiders.
“I can’t let any game, any play define who I am as a player or as a person,” he said. “I’m continuing to grow and get better. Each opportunity is just another day to get better and continue to grow, but that’s how people are looking at it. We want immediate results, everybody — the media, the fans, myself — but unfortunately that’s not always part of it.
“So I’ve just got to continue to work, get better every single day and realize that’s the kind of level we’re at and those are the expectations. But I’m not going to hold any extra pressure over my head or do anything more. I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do, and hopefully people will understand. But I think I understand the situation that I’m in and what all comes with it.”
2. Trubisky’s decision not to throw to uncovered tight end Trey Burton in the end zone on third-and-goal in the first quarter Sunday was a matter of risk-reward.
“I’m sure everyone saw what I saw, and they’re like, ‘Oh, Mitch, throw to the wide-open guy in the back of the end zone!’” Trubisky said. “Trust me, I wish I would (have).
“Tarik (Cohen) was the first option in the flat. It’s one of those plays where (you think), ‘How risky are you going to be? Are you going to take care of the football?’ I checked it down, we lost 5 yards, but we got three points out of it and went up 10-0. So that was the big positive takeaway for me.
“But moving forward, if I want to evolve into the quarterback I want to be, you’ve got to take the opportunity, and I’ve got to anticipate that even more. That wasn’t something that happened in practice at all that week. But you’ve got to know as a quarterback if that opens up, take your chances and get it to the guy wide open.
“But it’s a little less wide open when you’re playing it full (speed) on film. When you’ve got the still picture, which I’m sure a lot of people saw, it looks like I don’t know what I’m doing. Trust me, I’m hard on myself. You want touchdowns, not field goals. But I thought I put myself and my team in a good position in that instance, first quarter, check it down, three points, we’re up 10-0.”
3. Trubisky wants to change his mindset in two-minute drill situations after evaluating how he approached the failed final possession against the Packers.
“I was thinking: Try to make a big play, like win the game right here,” he said. “And it should have been for me personally, I think, just stack completions. Get one more completion, one more first down. And then when you get that first down, just another first down. And like we saw from the other team, you just dink it down underneath and a missed tackle can turn into a big play.
“I should have had more of a completion mindset instead of trying to do too much. And that comes from me. I’ve just got to stay within myself, stay within the offense, fire completions and move in the two-minute drill.
“It was a great learning experience. I don’t think you ever will get that exact situation in practice with the noise, the stage and all that. So it was a great learning experience for me and I’m definitely going to take it with me. I’m itching for the next two-minute drill in practice and in the next game, whenever, to prove myself and get the opportunity again. But I definitely have a new mindset: take care of the football but just move the ball down the field because we had plenty of time.”
4. After acknowledging he had “happy feet” at times against the Packers, Trubisky will focus this week on being calmer in the pocket.
“It comes from me wanting to take care of the football, and then not taking sacks,” Trubisky said. “Yes, (escaping the pocket) helps our offense in some areas, but it can also get me into trouble when I don’t need to. I’ve got to find a kind of happy medium. And in practice it’s going to be pocket movement, moving around defenders in the pocket and continuing to keep my eyes downfield so you can find receivers. You try to simulate that as much as possible, but the best place to do that is in the game. I just take a bunch of notes on the game film, and just keep in my head when would be a good time to move.
“But I’m going to continue to use my natural ability, keep plays alive, because there could be a lot more big plays from a scramble as well. But I’m trying to stay in the pocket and become a lot better passer in the pocket and continue to move around, very subtle movements with calm feet, to find receivers. That’d be something I’ll be working on in my career, but definitely more emphasis this week.”
5. Trubisky is mindful of controlling his emotions in situations like the Packers game, when opportunities are being missed.
“Sometimes it’s good to show emotions,” he said. “My teammates need to see even more that I’m locked in in intensity throughout the game and definitely at practice so they can feed off it.
“But there’s other times you just need to remain cool calm and collected, and I think that’s more natural and better, what I’m better at. But last year it was more, ‘Oh, he’s a rookie, growing pains.’ And then now it’s a little different because it’s like, ‘Oh, second year, why isn’t the offense exploding?’
“And I ask myself some of those same questions, ‘Why aren’t I playing as well as I’d like to?’ But if I’m too hard on myself, then I just get discouraged and then it goes from playing OK to playing worse, instead of, yeah, it’ll downward spiral.
“So just try to stay positive and just keep that belief that we’re going to get over the hump, and then we’ll start getting all the plays and everything that it’s designed for. Everything that I believe that I can do, and that this offense can do.”
-Rich Campbell - Chicago Tribune
