Mitch Trubisky has heard all the doubts by now. He's learned to ignore them. His focus is on doing whatever it takes to get better. The Chicago Bears have done all they can to ensure this happens. They have a system that is firmly in place under Matt Nagy. They infused the arsenal of weapons even further with David Montgomery, Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Riley Ridley. All he needs to do is keep working hard and things should work out.
However, thus far in training camp, there have been a few hiccups. He struggled a bit on Monday with some underthrown balls and interceptions. This inevitably led to a lot of the worriers proclaiming he hasn't learned anything. His problems are the exact same as last year. They conveniently ignored two factors at play. It was raining heavily most of the morning, which always makes throwing the ball an adventure.
Oh and he's practicing against the best defense in the NFL. It's that second part that many believe could actually benefit him when the real games start this fall as Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times explained.
It’s natural this time of year for the defense to be ahead of the offense. The hope is that facing perhaps the league’s most dangerous defense makes Mitch Trubisky better. Trubisky doesn’t figure to play much in preseason games, so it won’t be until Week 1 that we see the effect of these preseason practices.
‘It’s just a challenge every single day,” Trubisky said. “You’ve got to embrace that as a competitor. And we’re just pushing each other on both sides of the ball.
“We know our defense is going to get us on some plays, but as an offense if they stop us — or they have a positive play on defense — it’s got to be a next-play mentality. Because we know we can bounce them or get them the next play.
“Or if it’s a drill — they get us one drill, and that happens, drill behind, they won that one, let’s go and get them the next time.”
Is Mitch Trubisky benefitting from these fierce practice challenges?
This isn't the first time people have brought up such a factor. Is there an actual benefit to practicing against a great defense during training camp? It certainly sounds logical. If you can deliver consistently solid play against them, then the rest of the schedule should be easy. Still, given how great the defenses have been in Chicago and how crummy the quarterback play has along that same timeline, it may be hard to believe.
However, there is evidence to back it up. Here are a few notable names across the NFL today and in history who you may not have thought are big advocates of it.
Tom Brady
The one whom many proclaim the G.O.A.T for obvious reasons didn't get there alone. Easily the most overlooked aspect of the New England Patriots and their sustained success has been their good defenses. Since Brady took over in 2001, they've field a top 10 unit in points allowed 13 times. His three highest-rated seasons as a pro came in 2007, 2010, and 2016. Each of those years the Patriots ranked 4th, 8th, and 1st in points allowed. His worst season? That was 2002. The defense? It ranked 17th.
Joe Montana
The man Brady idolized as a child was the unequaled master of the 1980s. Montana won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and three Super Bowl MVP awards. Like Brady though, he had a lot of help. The 49ers fielded a top 10 defense in points allowed nine times from 1981 to 1990. Montana's three highest-rated years came in '84, '87, and 89. San Francisco ranked 1st, 3rd, and 3rd each of those years in points allowed.
Brett Favre
Perhaps a perfect example of this is Favre. Everybody knows the Hall of Famer always had his issues with interceptions. However, even he had some outstanding years where the turnovers were low. His three best came in 1995, 1996, and 2009 with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. Sure enough, each of those years was aided by practicing against good defenses. The Packers were 4th and 1st in points allowed in '95 and '96. The Vikings were 10th in '09.
So there is definite validity to the idea that practicing against a top defense has clear benefits for the quarterback. Even Bears quarterbacks have proven it. Jim McMahon's two highest-rated seasons came in 1984 and 1985. Chicago ranked 3rd and 1st in points allowed respectively. Having to slug it out with units of high caliber every single day is like playing a video game on NIGHTMARE difficulty.
The idea is that by the team the season rolls around, the quarterback will suddenly see that difficulty drop to NORMAL and it will almost be boring from how little of a challenge they feel at times. That is the hope for Mitch Trubisky as he continues to battle it out with that Bears defense in Bourbonnais.
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