So much is expected of #2 overall pick Mitch Trubisky in Chicago Bears colors, not just this year but long in the future. Fans weren’t sold on draft night when Ryan Pace traded up one spot to take the former North Carolina Tar Heel, and if the first open practice for the Bears is any indication, then they have every right not to be sold:
Five plays for Mitch Trubisky in team drills, three fumbled exchanges.
— dan durkin (@djdurkin) July 29, 2017
Oh no.
The #ChicagoBears #2 overall pick, our future. #Omaha! #BearDown pic.twitter.com/VBd5rfL3RI
— Gridiron Assassin (@GridAssassin) July 29, 2017
Mitch Trubisky's first two reps in team drills at the first padded practice: two fumbled center-QB exchanges from under center. #Bears
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) July 29, 2017
At least the jitters didn’t last very long.
Two cleaned-up reps later, though, Trubisky's athleticism behind the LOS & accuracy throwing on the move are clear. Talent & room for growth
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) July 29, 2017
Once he did get the snap right, Bears fans apparently gave him a Bronx cheer.
‘‘I think I just lost focus there for a period of time,’’ Trubisky, who typically operated out of the shotgun at North Carolina said. “And then I was starting to overthink it and then couldn’t get it.”
And instead of blaming Trubisky and shattering his confidence early on in his NFL career, John Fox naturally threw his offensive line under the bus for the fumble-itis.
On Trubisky snap trouble, John Fox notes that it was 2 diff centers snapping to him. First day of pads, they're anxious to snap quickly.
— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) July 29, 2017
But it wasn’t all bad for Trubisky, because he did get to show off his arm talent:
Trubisky !! pic.twitter.com/6F1MEK10C4
— Chicago Sports 🇧🇷 (@ChicagoSportsBR) July 29, 2017
Trubisky is nowhere near as bad as the reactions that Bears fans had on draft night would lead you to believe. And the boos when he showed up at that Bulls game were a bit over-the-top. He has plenty of potential evidenced by that throw (and presumably many others). But he’s a rookie, and therefore he’s going to make mistakes, and because of the 24/7 media culture we live in, we’re going to overreact spectacularly to mistakes like these.
But until he makes them in live games, it’s nothing to freak out about… yet.