Super Bowl-Winning Coach Surprised By Trubisky's Rapid Progress

Jon Gruden met Mitch Trubisky back in March ahead of the NFL draft. The future Bears rookie quarterback made a solid impression at the time. The former Super Bowl-winning head coach is notorious for his high standards at the position. No surprise considering he worked with former MVPs like Brett Favre, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Rich Gannon. Gruden liked some of the things Mitch could do, but stated he preferred Texas Tech standout Patrick Mahomes if given the choice. Fast forward a few months and it could be that his stance has changed considerably. Trubisky has played better with each passing week in the preseason. All told he went 34-of-48 for 354 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran the ball four times for 47 yards. He has yet to turn the ball over. Sure there were some bad decisions made along the way, but that is typical of a rookie. All things considered he's outperformed the entire 2017 class up to this point. Yet he still hasn't quite cracked the starting lineup like many hoped. He remains a backup and will start the preseason finale against Cleveland. Some believe this is a bad idea, putting the prized rookie at risk of injury. Gruden? He doesn't agree.

Bears rookie quarterback is good but needs every possible snap to improve

He spoke with the Chicago Sun-Times recently on the subject. While he understands the fears, he said fans should focus on hope more than fear. This is football. There's always a risk of injury. The potential trade off of valuable game experience, even against backups, is way too good to pass up. He applauds the Bears for recognizing that.

“I think this is a great idea. Let him play the whole game. Put something on his plate. Give him a game plan to sink his teeth into. Let him go out there and play. He only had the one year (starting) at North Carolina. This experience is huge for him.”

Gruden went on to offer his impressions on Trubisky now that he's had a chance to review more tape on him from the past three weeks. It was hard for the former coach and current Monday Night Football analyst to contain his excitement. Clearly his opinion of the rookie has climbed a few notches since their last meeting.

The rookie has impressed Gruden through the first three preseason games. “He proved a lot of great stuff in the preseason — he made some good throws, he can scramble, he’s tough, I saw him handle some audibles,” Gruden said. “He put points on the board. There’s a lot to be excited about in Chicago.”

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Gruden-says-Trubisky-is-a-sharp-kid.mp4"][/video] Gruden may get a chance to see Trubisky play live in the near future. The Bears play the Minnesota Vikings on October 9th at Soldier Field on a Monday night. It's possible the rookie will have unseated Mike Glennon by that point. Either way it's encouraging to heard such a renowned QB expert speak so highly of him.