Matt Nagy, Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Where the 2020 Chicago Bears are going, they don’t need eyes to see.
Nobody wants to watch the Chicago Bears and their quarterback competition this summer.
It’s a waste of time because we already know what the end result will be. Newcomer Nick Foles will beat out former No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky before the Bears take on the division rival Detroit Lions Week 1. So why is head coach Matt Nagy telling us he needs to see how the preseason goes before deciding who will be his starting quarterback?
“Preseason games, reps, playing more, creating more reps,” Nagy told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Having both those quarterbacks play with the same wide receivers and tight ends against the same defenses — that’s going to be important. I do believe it’ll naturally happen. I feel good about that. We have a good plan. And they understand it.”
Nagy did say he regretted holding out the starters during the preseason last year. By all means, competition is great and should be a big part of an NFL team’s roster construction. However, giving any first-team rep to Trubisky at this point would be the equivalent to setting a $100 bill on fire. It’s amusing, but it accomplishes nothing other than being an over-the-top symbolic gesture.
Matt Nagy needs to believes his eyes when it comes to Mitchell Trubisky.
The very instant the Bears decided to not extend Trubisky the fifth-year option for 2021 meant it was over for the former North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback in Chicago long-term. He might be a great guy, a good teammate and a hard worker, but you can’t keep playing a quarterback who can’t complete a 10-yard pass with any regularity whatsoever. It’s Foles’ team now, so just accept it.
The only benefit to not starting Foles right away in Week 1 is he’s been yanked out of games before. The journeyman quarterback has had his struggles with the St. Louis Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars before. Telling him to hold a clipboard will not hurt his feelings. He’s already a Philadelphia Eagles legend, something you can never take away from him.
As for Trubisky, the second he’s no longer viewed as a starting quarterback talent by the Bears, this goofy Ryan Pace fever dream will be over, and he must deal with the aftermath of his worst professional decision. The Bears have a defense capable of getting them to the playoffs, but they can’t have putrid quarterback play actively undermining them like it did a season ago.
To say there’s a quarterback competition at this juncture is only posturing by the Bears organization because they’re afraid to be honest with themselves. If they want to win and make the playoffs, start Foles and don’t look back. If this blows up their face, there will be a new regime in town and the Bears might have stunk bad enough to draft a new franchise quarterback.
For someone to be good, someone has to be bad. Outside of the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars, which teams do we know for sure will be terrible this year? If it hits the fan for the Bears, they may have their opportunity to draft Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall out of Clemson or Justin Fields No. 2 overall out of Ohio State. Both are light years better than Trubisky.
Saying he needs to see preseason snaps means Nagy needs to pay a visit his local optometrist.