Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is fighting for his job and is taking on a “whatever it takes” attitude in his competition with Nick Foles.
“I feel like I’m in a good mental space. I’m motivated and driven to do more than I did last year. I’m very locked in to what I’ve got to do,” said the 25-year-old Trubisky, who was available to media via video conference on Friday.
Trubisky’s fifth-year option for 2021 was declined and his future is uncertain. He isn’t promised a fourth season as the team’s starting quarterback in 2020. Instead, the former No. 2 overall pick is going toe to toe with Foles for the No. 1 role.
“We need to get back to the playoffs,” said Trubisky, who guided the Bears to the NFC North title in 2018. “And we need to have a different mentality than we did last year. We let a lot of details slip and we didn’t play the way we should have been playing. We lost a lot of games we should have won.
“All I can do is control what I can control and that’s to go out and try to have a hell of a year with my teammates.”
The Bears slipped to 8-8 in 2019 and missed the playoffs.
Head coach Matt Nagy said Trubisky has been on point since Foles was acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars in March and going “above and beyond” what has been asked during a virtual offseason.
Trubisky still views himself as the team’s starter until proven otherwise. What were his thoughts when the Bears traded a fourth-round pick for Foles?
“Yeah … it was kind of interesting to me. But I still feel like this is my team,” he said.
Trubisky had offseason shoulder surgery and Foles missed more than half of last season with a broken collarbone.
“I want it to be here in Chicago,” Trubisky said. “I’m going to play my heart and soul out for this team and give it everything I’ve got. … I think it’s just more fuel to the fire to me, more motivation that I could have done more to get extended.”