LAKE FOREST, Illinois – Tuesday seemed like an important day in the Bears’ quarterback competition for two reasons:
1. Both quarterbacks threw more passes than in any other open media practice at camp.
2. For the first time, Mitch Trubisky really struggled with his precision.
Click to download the MyTeams app for the latest bear news and analysis.
After a blistering hour-long delay at Halas Hall, the Bears managed to get their full practice, although that required encouragement from head coach Matt Nagy after a slow return to the field.
“I thought the start was a bit slow at the start so we had to put them on a bit,” Nagy said. “I think it’s a little natural, but they reacted well after these 1 on 1 and we were able to participate in our long training exercise at the end of the tests where we played 18 games with the (first team) . It conditions them a bit.
Catching up: Nick Foles shows improvement in “ playing ” practice
The long training drill was one of the two new wrinkles in quarterback competition. With the starting offensive line of 18 consecutive games, the quarterfinals split the repetitions, each obtaining nine shots. Prior to this period, we saw a “lunge pass drill,” featuring two wide receivers against all three defensive backs.
“You have a nickel, a corner and a security against two receivers and then you just work combined routes (against) different types of covers,” Nagy said. “It’s a defense advantage, so if it doesn’t look good on offense it’s the defense advantage down the length.
Like most quarterback competitions, results have been mixed for Trubisky and Nick Foles. Here’s a look at how the two quarterbacks performed in Tuesday’s practice:
Mitch trubisky
The lunge pass drill gave the defense an advantage and resulted in Trubisky’s first interception from training camp in the team drills. He threw a pass behind rookie wide receiver Darnell Mooney and it was taken out by cornerback Duke Shelley. However, two assists later, Trubisky delivered one of his best passes in the camp, knocking out Javon Wims a penny on a round trip on the straight sideline. Sadly, two high passes to Ted Ginn Jr. during the period were a harbinger of what was to come. In 7v7, Trubisky forced a pass to Wims downstream when he had an open option below (more on that in a minute). He was later well behind on a pitch to Jimmy Graham and was inaccurate on several shots in the 11-11 period.
“There are a few balls that I think he would want to come back to, a few here or there just with precision might not be exactly what he wanted,” Nagy said.
Simply put: it wasn’t a good day for Mitch Trubisky.
Nick foles
Foles was also guilty of an interception in the exercise of slot passes, although it seemed to be more on Mooney, who was the intended target on the coin. In 7v7, Foles forced one out of Cole Kmet and he was taken out by rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson. It was a bad decision, but it was also his only significant mistake of the day. Two shots later, Foles put the needle on a very nice touchdown pass to Anthony Miller, who was more active on Tuesday. Foles also hit Wims on a deep 11v11 cross and was generally accurate throughout practice, although the degree of difficulty was questionable compared to Trubisky (again, more on this).
Tuesday winner
It’s not like Foles got away with the day, but he certainly didn’t struggle as much as Trubisky. Other than the interception, I only noticed one other pitch that was irrelevant for Foles, while Trubisky had at least six passes to escape him. There is no doubt that Foles was the best quarterback and it will be interesting to see how Trubisky responds after two disappointing practices. This could be a moment of swing in the competition, or it could lead to a strong response from the incumbent.
Last word
First, a quote from Matt Nagy and then a bit of background:
“I thought of both of them, there are some progressions with the eyes making sure – especially 7v7 – to test him downstream instead of checking down. I thought you saw a bit of it from both of you today. (7v7) is a good time to test it out, although not so much the best read, test it out and see what some of these players can do. This is fine though. We just keep driving, we keep looking for it.
The interesting thing about Nagy’s comment is that I actually thought Trubisky had taken risks on the field 7v7 to the point that it hurt him. The throw mentioned earlier at Wims in double coverage is an example of this. A moment later he tried Ridley downfield and he fell incomplete. A long fade to Rodney Adams didn’t work either.
Foles, meanwhile, intercepted Johnson and hit Miller, but didn’t force the issue much. I wonder if the coaching staff would like to see him more aggressive to help assess the competition.
Regardless of the high percentage throws, Foles won the day and in my assessment he is ahead in what remains close competition.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO THE PODCAST IN CENTER.
