Chicago Bears' Glennon happy at No. 1
BOURBONNAIS - For better or worse, this is quarterback Mike Glennon's football team.
Everyone from Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace to John Fox and his coaching staff and the players is on the same page when it comes to the No. 1 quarterback.
The last thing a team trying to put a 3-13 season in the rearview mirror needs is a quarterback controversy, though the Bears might have considered that before moving up to take Mitch Trubisky second overall in this year's draft.
But they acted quickly to present a united message: The future might belong to Trubisky, but the present is Glennon's.
No one knows how long it will be before the present and the future collide. But for now Glennon appreciates the measures that have been taken to discourage controversy.
"They've handled the situation really well," said the 27-year-old, although he didn't feel that way on draft day when he was one of the marquee names at the Bears' draft-day party and Trubisky's name was announced.
Since then, the pecking order has been made clear.
"Everything that I could ask for as far as it not being a distraction, they've done that," Glennon said. "Mitch has done a great job. He understands what his role is. He hasn't been a distraction either.
"I appreciate everyone that has been involved in making it strictly about football and putting that other stuff to the side."
With Glennon as No. 1, ninth-year veteran Mark Sanchez No. 2, Trubisky third and Connor Shaw fourth, the training-camp practice reps have been distributed accordingly. The depth chart is clear after just five practices.
But Glennon says that's how he has felt since early in the off-season program.
"I think that's kind of been the case really from the moment I got here and reached out to the guys," he said. "We're lucky to have a really good group of guys that have all bought in to what we're doing. I think everyone has been a really good teammate so far."
The bond between quarterbacks and receivers was strengthened during the five-week break between minicamp and training camp when Glennon organized informal throw-and-catch practices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Pace says Glennon has affirmed the positive traits, including leadership, that attracted him and his staff to the lanky 6-foot-7 quarterback long before they signed him as an unrestricted free agent on March 17.
"He's a smart football player," Pace said. "He's proved that since he's been here. I think his teammates would attest to that as much as anything as far as (how) he raises boats, which is important for that position."
As a rookie in 2013, Glennon was thrust into a starting role in Week 4 and performed admirably for a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that did a horrible job protecting him.
He threw 19 touchdown passes and just 9 interceptions for an 83.9 passer rating despite being sacked 40 times in 13 starts.
"What I saw from Mike in those situations is he would continue to get up when he got hit," said Dave Ragone, the Bears' quarterbacks coach. "He showed tremendous toughness in the pocket, and that's not always easy to do. He was a tough guy and a tough-minded individual."
Glennon lost the job in Tampa for good when the Bucs drafted quarterback Jameis Winston first overall in 2015 and anointed him the starter.
Now Glennon goes into a season as the clear-cut No. 1 for the first time.
"It's just what I've dreamed of my whole life, to be a starting quarterback in the NFL and to enter the season as that guy," he said. "It's what I've worked for. I've prepared for it ever since I was a kid and all the way through college and into the pros, to get to this moment. So it's going to be a great opportunity."
When eight-year veteran wide receiver Victor Cruz signed with the Bears on May 18, relatively late in the off-season, he knew next to nothing about Glennon. He has been impressed by what he has learned since.
"I wanted to see what his command was like," Cruz said. "Can he command a huddle? How does he communicate what he wants from his receiving corps, and from his offense in general?
"He's done a great job. He's concise. He's clear about what he wants, how he wants it run, and he's able to (convey) what he wants on the field and talk us through it."
According to Glennon, it won't be long before an accurate assessment of the Bears' offense can be made.
"All the (preseason) games will be the true tell of where we are," he said. "The preseason games will be the true test."
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