Chicago Bears: Are teammates growing tired of the Trubisky negativity?

Are the Chicago Bears growing tired of the negativity around Mitch Trubisky?

Prior to the start of the season, Chicago Bears’ quarterback Mitch Trubisky declared he would be taking a leave of absence from social media to focus on the season. It was a very smart move by a young signal-caller who, throughout his young career, has demonstrated a level of maturity and work ethic infrequently seen in young players.

However, beyond the benefit of focusing exclusively on football, Mitch derived another benefit from staying off social media. Specifically, he did not have to be exposed to the inane drivel of many national media “experts” who have taken to Twitter to trash Trubisky at every opportunity.

Since prior to the draft, many analysts formed strong opinions about the 2017 quarterback class. In an industry in which you are evaluated on your evaluations, these analysts obviously have a vested interest in being right. To that end, it behooves them to push a narrative, even if it is not true or entirely contradicted by those pesky things known as facts. After all, perception can be reality, and to the casual observer who might not pay close attention, these opinions carry a lot of weight.

However, if you objectively evaluated these players for yourself, you’d notice that their narrative isn’t always consistent with what is actually transpiring on the field. In the worst of cases, they are cherry-picking statistics and data points to support their position.

Recently, some of these analysts have really upped the ante in their criticism of Mitch. First, there was Bill Simmons’ sidekick Bill Barnwell. When he’s not busy blocking anyone on Twitter with a different opinion, he’s putting out his own on the Bears quarterback. Last week he dubbed Mitch the “Blake Bortles of the North.” I’d include the exact tweet here but he blocked me for suggesting his thesis is — shall we say — misguided, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

Next, Mike Tanier jumped on the “bash Trubisky bandwagon,” incorrectly asserting that his stats are inflated by screen and shovel passes. That would be a terrific argument against Trubisky if it was true, but it’s not. And no matter how emphatically, and condescendingly you make your point on Twitter, it doesn’t make it any truer.

Beyond the fact that this assertion is false, the problem with the argument is that every other quarterback benefits — and to a much greater extent — from the screen/flat passes. When Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, or Matt Ryan (as he did against the Washington Redskins last week) do it, they’re “smart” and “taking what the defense gives them” and “executing a well-designed play call.” When Trubisky does it, it’s evidence he is a bad quarterback. If that makes absolutely no sense to you, you’re not alone.

Finally, we have perhaps to most insane criticism of Trubisky to date. Michael Lombardi, an NFL writer for The Athletic, made the following comment on the Follow the Money podcast.

"“You couldn’t get me to buy Mitchell Trubisky if you had him on a discount rack at Filene’s Basement. There’s no chance. There’s no chance. He can’t throw the ball inbounds half the time.”"

That statement is ironic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that “Filene’s Basement” is apparently where he found the quarterbacks he was responsible for drafting throughout his career as an NFL executive. Are you ready for a “who’s who” list of rainmakers?

In case you were curious why this gentleman was fired from the Cleveland Browns organization, that dossier should remove all doubt. Though with an eye for talent like that, perhaps it’s a good thing he is down on Trubisky. Not to pile on, but his elite talent evaluation skills aren’t limited to players. He once said that Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson was “less qualified to coach a team than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Needless to say, fans have grown incredibly tired of these ridiculous hot takes. It’s exhausting. But, it appears fans may not be the only ones who are growing tired of these false narratives, and ridiculous statements for clicks and ratings.

Tarik Cohen did not mince words when he took to Twitter to respond to Lombardi’s criticism. One thing that became clear in the immediate aftermath of Matt Nagy’s hiring was the way in which this team — made up of a lot of newcomers — coalesced quickly. This team believed in each other and, more importantly, believed in their young quarterback.

Cohen’s statement makes it clear that support and belief in Mitch haven’t wavered. They are confident in his progress and development and witness it on a daily basis. So whose evaluation should you trust more? Well you can decide for yourself, but I am going to go with, you know, the actual players who played the game.

The thing is, many people have already made up their minds about Trubisky and nothing he does is likely to change that. Rather than concern myself with the inflexible opinions of these individuals, I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride this team is on — and watch Tarik Cohen put them in their place.