If people are searching for a reason why the
Chicago Bears drafted Mitch Trubisky, they've seen plenty of signs. He's a great passer for starters. He's athletic and intelligent, demonstrating a tireless work ethic. All great traits for a quarterback to have. However, perhaps one of the most underrated but important parts of him is his leadership.
The best quarterbacks are the ones who are able to inspire their teammates to play better. To
want to play better. He did that at Mentor High School and again at North Carolina. Teammates insisted that he wasn't just a physical talent. He was a franchise-caliber player who could put a team on his back.
It seems the effects of that leadership began to seep out from the Bears locker room after their frustrating loss at home to the Minnesota Vikings.
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Mitch Trubisky leadership showed up right away after game
A lot of people were anxious to levy criticism on the rookie following the game. Most of that had to do with his painful interception late in the 4th quarter that set up the Minnesota game-winning field goal. It was a classic rookie mistake brought about by a bad decision. Of course people would focus on that and not the atrocious mistakes by his 10 other teammates during the previous 58 minutes of that game.
True to form though the young man didn't even hesitate once the team got back to the locker room. Fair or not he put the loss on himself.
People might think that's cliche but it's not. Players remember stuff like that. They want a guy who will take the hits from the media for them. That's what a good leader does. He passes off the praise when things are good and absorbs the blame when they're bad. Judging by the reaction in the locker room, it's clear Trubisky is having an influence.
They saw what everybody else did. Trubisky came out playing well, connecting on passes and moving the offense. Unfortunately his momentum was sabotaged by drops and brutally-timed penalties that often negated big plays. The Bears were in Vikings territory several times in the first half and failed to score once. Dion Sims had a bad drop. Cody Whitehair had an ugly holding penalties and two bad snaps.
This sort of poor execution isn't going to cut it. They have to be better. It's clear this team can win with Trubisky, but he can't do it himself.
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