Chicago Bears: You want the good news or the bad news about Mitch Trubisky?

Now for the good news

Yes, there is good news for those who are wondering. To arrive at it, we must take a ride back to 2017 and the days of John Fox. I think everyone will agree Mitch wasn’t setting the world on fire, but with fewer starts and inferior weapons, he looked considerably better than he does this year. He was more decisive, kept his eyes upfield, and drilled receivers with more confident throws.

So what was different about that offense? Well to state the obvious, it was considerably more simplistic. It did not require Mitch to remember, process, and react to so much. He could focus on getting through his progressions and finding the open receiver.

You also saw steady progression last season from Mitch. The positive takeaway here is that when he is comfortable with an offense, the deficiencies he’s displayed this season were not as apparent. That should give Bears fans hope that it really is just a matter of him needing to get more comfortable.

This point is buttressed by the fact that on the scripted plays Nagy has drawn up, Trubisky has performed pretty well. In other words, he is good when he has a clear understanding of the plays. Said another way, he’s good when he’s comfortable. So maybe it really is just a matter of him getting more and more settled. Perhaps there is too much swimming around in his head and it’s impacting him in other ways.

But you have at least seen glimpses of his talent and what he’s able to do and it is extremely encouraging. Take the throw below for example. Robinson gets a step on his man and Trubisky puts just enough air under the throw for him to run right into it, but enough zip to get it in before the safety comes over. He also comes off of his first read before making the throw. This play also came at a time when the Bears needed a score, which was the ultimate result of this drive.

On this touchdown pass to Anthony Miller in the Seattle Seahawks game, you see the end result of a quarterback who is not thinking too much but reacting. It’s clear that he has been most effective when on the move, whether by design or when flushed out of the pocket. It is also during these moments that he is playing on instinct, and not overthinking.

You might also think back to that dazzling play he made against Seattle where he escaped pressure, whirled around and hit Tarik Cohen on a floater down the right sideline. Again, he was playing off of instincts and not thinking.

This is more evidence that as he masters the offense, and reacts as opposed to thinking how to react, things will go more smoothly for him. As frustrating as it can be at times — especially with Patrick Mahomes lighting it up — fans need to be patient. He is getting invaluable experience and the Bears are still managing to win these games. If they can survive one more game, they go into the bye week with a chance to fix a lot of these issues.