It's hard to find any reason to feel confident in Mitch Trubisky after what's been nothing short of an embarrassing first half of the 2019 season. The former second overall pick of the 2017 draft has completed 63% of his passes for just 1,217 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions through the better part of seven games. And if that wasn't bad enough, his confidence in the pocket and as a passer appears rattled.
But general manager Ryan Pace said the organization is still behind Trubisky and thinks the third-year passer has shown some good things this season despite the tape suggesting otherwise.
“Other young quarterbacks around the league are going through it — the same thing," Pace said Sunday morning on the WBBM Newsradio. "Honestly, we’re proud of the way Mitch is handling it......You see it within games right now. You saw it in Philly. It was really a tale of two halves.”
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Sure, Trubisky played better in the second half of Week 9's loss to the Eagles, but it would be almost impossible not to. The Bears managed just nine yards of offense in the first two quarters and Trubisky finished the game completing only 10 passes for 125 yards. If that's a resume game for him, Chicago is in trouble.
"He’s fighting his way out of it within games," Pace continued. "We all know Mitch can play better. Mitch knows that. He’s just in the process of navigating his way through this along with the rest of the offense. He has confidence in himself. His teammates have confidence in him.”
Trubisky's teammates don't have much of a choice at this point. Chase Daniel doesn't offer much hope as the backup and there isn't a young arm in the program who could realistically represent upside at the position moving forward.
So, it's Trubisky or bust at this point. It's because of that reality that Pace, Matt Nagy and the Bears locker room have to say all the right things. There's no other option; if they speak the truth about Trubisky's play, any chance the team has at rebounding in the second half of the season will be lost.
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Pace will forever be connected to the Trubisky pick. Naturally, he'll be his biggest ally even at a time when it doesn't seem warranted.