Glennon looks better, but so does Trubisky for Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears starting quarterback Mike Glennon showed enough improvement in Saturday's 24-23 preseason victory in Arizona over the Cardinals to quiet some of his critics.
But rookie QB Mitch Trubisky did nothing to silence the clamoring for him to move up from No. 3 on the depth chart.
The second overall pick in this year's draft didn't enter the game until 2:04 remained in the third quarter, so most of his snaps came at garbage time.
But Trubisky put up even better numbers than he did nine days earlier in his pro debut, when he finished with a 103.1 passer rating.
In the desert, Trubisky posted a 135.4 passer rating (158.3 is the highest possible), as he completed 6 of 8 passes for 60 yards, including a 6-yard TD pass to running back Benny Cunningham with 1:55 remaining that represented the winning score.
Playing behind second- and third-team offensive linemen, Trubisky took the Bears' first sack of the preseason and was hit hard on a couple of other plays.
"Our protection broke down a couple times, and I know he got hit pretty solid a couple times," Bears coach John Fox said. "All in all, I thought he did pretty well."
Trubisky also was face-masked by the Cardinals' Olsen Pierre that negated what would have been another sack, and he was roughed by Peli Anau, which tacked on an additional 15 yards after his 13-yard completion to running back Josh Rounds.
After guiding the Bears to all 17 of their points in the preseason opener, Trubisky was on the field for 7 of the Bears' points Saturday.
"I would say it was all right," Trubisky said of his performance. "We moved the ball down the field a little bit. We would have liked to have converted a couple third downs."
Early in the fourth quarter, on Trubisky's first possession, the Bears drove to the Arizona 24-yard line. But the sack by Alex Bazzie pushed them back seven yards, from where Roberto Aguayo missed wide right on a 49-yard field-goal attempt.
The sack provided a teaching moment for Trubisky.
"Obviously I wanted to take care of the football, which I did," he said. "But I think I can learn from watching film and trying to get the ball out a little faster, help my O-line out and just find the right guy when they're bringing pressure in my face.
"It's just one of those things that I will have to learn from, and I will."
Aguayo's missed kick initially appeared on course but sliced sharply right, which did not help the recently signed kicker in his competition with Connor Barth.
The incumbent Barth nailed his only FG attempt, a 42-yarder in the first quarter. But all 3 of Aguayo's kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
Trubisky wasn't the only young Bear who flashed in the second half.
Defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris had sacks on back-to-back plays late in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the 6-foot-7, 294-pound Robertson-Harris stopped a running play for no gain. Undrafted last year out of Texas-El Paso, he was listed as a 267-pound outside linebacker.
A serious heat-related illness just before the start of training camp sidelined him for the 2016 season. But he probably earned some earlier playing time in Sunday's third preseason game at noon against the Titans in Tennessee.
After 15 players sat out Saturday, the Bears hope to be much healthier for what is traditionally a dress rehearsal for the regular-season opener.
Four linebackers were missing: Danny Trevathan (knee), Jonathan Anderson (ankle), Nick Kwiatkoski (concussion) and Alex Scearse; plus three cornerbacks: Prince Amukamara (hamstring), Bryce Callahan (hamstring) and Johnthan Banks.
The Bears also were without defensive linemen Akiem Hicks (Achilles), Mitch Unrein (concussion) and Kapron Lewis-Moore, running backs Jordan Howard (scratched cornea) and Jeremy Langford (ankle) and guard Kyle Long (ankle).
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