The Chicago Bears are going to keep their Week 1 starting quarterback a mystery
With the 2020 NFL regular season less than two weeks away, all of the talk surrounding the Chicago Bears is who will be their starting quarterback in Week 1. Former 2017 second-overall pick Mitchell Trubisky is being given one last shot by the team after a massively disappointing campaign last year, and the team brought in veteran and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Nick Foles to compete with him. The Bears open up their season against the rival Detroit Lions on Sept. 14, and many Chicagoans are wondering which player will be starting under center.
While speaking with the media on Saturday, Bears head coach Matt Nagy said he won’t announce the starter prior to their regular season opener. Additionally, Nagy says he’s not providing any details about the two quarterbacks’ performance in training camp.
It has to be Foles starting, right? Right?
Nagy is playing coy about the quarterback competition, but according to NBC Sports‘ Adam Hoge, Foles has the early advantage over Trubisky. Hoge says that both passers worked with the first team, but Trubisky struggled with accuracy, as he had multiple throws go high and behind his intended targets. Foles, on the other hand, was much more accurate during drills.
Trubisky had a relatively solid sophomore season, in which his 3,233 yards and 24 touchdowns helped lead the Bears to the NFC North title in 2018. Last season was a different story for the quarterback. Trubisky’s play was a hinderance on the entire team, as he could only muster 17 touchdowns and threw 10 interceptions, leading to minimal offensive production for the team. That resulted in the Bears declining the fifth-year option on Trubisky’s contract this offseason.
Last offseason, Foles was handed an $88 million contract by the Jacksonville Jaguars. His stint got off to a horrible start, as he broke his left clavicle in the team’s season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Foles would return, but was benched late in the season in favor of then-rookie Gardner Minshew. In four games, Foles completed 65.8-percent of his passes for 736 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Bears have to live with the fact that they traded up in the first-round of the 2017 NFL Draft to take Trubisky over eventual NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and the dynamic Deshaun Watson. Trubisky knows his leash is short, but barring a late surge in training camp, all signs to be pointing to Foles starting for the Bears in Week 1.