Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky and Kevin White forming early bond

Although he just completed his rookie season, Mitch Trubisky is demonstrating he is the leader of the Chicago Bears.

When Ryan Pace drafted Mitchell Trubisky number two overall, he staked his future on the rookie quarterback.  He obviously believed Trubisky was the most talented quarterback in the draft.  More importantly, Trubisky represented Pace’s greatest chance to turn around the Chicago Bears’ fortune.

However, Trubisky exhibited other traits that Pace deemed invaluable.  To Pace, Trubisky embodied the intangibles that a general manager wants in the “face of the franchise.”  Coming out of the University of North Carolina, Trubisky had a reputation for being a gym rat.  His performance at training camp only furthered that reputation.  Mitch was the first one onto the field and the last one to leave each day.  As a result, he quickly won over his teammates.

One of those teammates is Kevin White.  The oft-injured wide receiver has clearly struggled to get his NFL career off the ground.  However, I documented recently the reasons the Chicago Bears should not give up on him just yet.  For White, his first three seasons must feel like a complete blur.  Beyond not being able to get on the field, he has likely struggled with how to fit in with the team.

Alpha males dominate a football locker room.  If you are not contributing on the field, you can’t help but feel less a part of the team than others.  For White, that experience had the added element of being a perceived “bust.”  To make matters even worse, Jay Cutler was his quarterback for those first three years.  Even the most ardent Cutler supporters have to concede that Jay is not the “take you under his wing” type of leader.

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Cutler led offseason workouts during his time in Chicago, but that was about the extent of his bonding with the wide receivers.  In fact, White even chose to train during the 2015 offseason with Brandon Marshall.

However, Trubisky is a completely different type of leader.   Therefore, this news comes as no surprise.  Trubisky is asserting himself as the leader and alpha-dog of this team.  He sees the importance of developing a bond with his players both on and off the field.  This is why he invited Kevin White to California for a private week-long workout.

They will certainly spend much of the week working on developing a chemistry on the field and learning the new offense.  However, they will also likely spend a good amount of time getting to know each other.  In those conversations, they will develop a trust and relationship as valuable as any on-field work they will do this week.  The hope is that they emerge a dynamic duo.

Next: Robinson and Watkins to the Bears?

Bottom Line

Trubisky is the undisputed leader of this team.  In his first NFL offseason, he is behaving like a seasoned veteran.  He is also validating what Ryan Pace saw in him leading up to the draft.  The Chicago Bears are hoping this translates into success on the field.