All signs are pointing to the Bears finding a new starting quarterback for Week 1 of the 2021 season. But when we caught up with Robbie Gould on NBC Sports Chicago’s “Countdown to Kickoff” show, Gould said a familiar (and likely unpopular) option has proved his mettle as an NFL QB.
“I’m a huge fan of Mitch Trubisky, I really am,” Gould said. “If you look at his career here, I think you have to look at it from the coaching changes, from the perspective of not having an offseason, then coming and playing, getting benched, and then playing again and playing well.”
While Gould cuts Trubisky some slack for the lack of continuity he’s dealt with throughout his career, he also says he boasts the skills and intangibles that teams look for in a starter.
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“I think he’s got the arm talent,” Gould said. “I think he’s got the mental side of the game, I think he’s a humble player. I think he’s very well-liked within the organization. It’s easy to just say, ‘Well, we need to get the quarterback position right,’ but the reality is everyone else has to rally around that position as well.”
Gould reiterates that just a couple years ago, many thought Trubisky had a bright outlook in Chicago.
“He was a Pro Bowl player in Nagy’s first year as a coach. This guy went from John Fox and that era of running the football as a young player trying to learn the game, to being a Pro Bowl player, and having you in a game to win in the playoffs. Down the stretch, leading a team in one of the most crucial moments in Bears history at the time, with the team that they had, and he gets you in field goal range. He gives you a chance to win the game, right?”
It’s true Trubisky did what he needed to give the Bears a chance to win in the 2018 Wild Card game, but he and the Bears offense looked ugly before the fourth quarter. If Cody Parkey had made the kick could things have turned out differently? Maybe.
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Maybe that would’ve given Trubisky and Nagy some extra confidence as they built an offense together. Maybe instead of comparing Trubisky to Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, we’d be comparing him to Terry Bradshaw, who needed to be carried by the Steelers defense in the early 70s. If Pittsburgh had given up on Bradshaw after his lackluster start to his career, maybe there wouldn’t have ever been an Iron Curtain dynasty.
But in today’s NFL, franchises don’t often wait five years for a quarterback to develop. Look at the Rams who shipped their No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, just two seasons after he led Los Angeles to the Super Bowl. So it seems unlikely that the Bears bring back Trubisky.
With rumors that the 49ers are looking to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo, maybe Gould will get a chance to call Trubisky a teammate?
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