Bears' QB Trubisky vows he won't be tenative against Ravens
Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains predicted that rookie Mitch Trubisky would have his ups and downs days before the quarterback's debut Monday night - and he was spot on.
Trubisky threw a risky ball back across his body over the middle that resulted in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller. He also forced a pass on first down from his own 10-yard line that resulted in an interception with just more than two minutes left.
"There's going to be those things, like we talked about last week," Loggains said. "There's going to be good, and there's going to be some bad."
So now the dilemma is, how do you get Trubisky to value the football while not robbing him of the playmaking ability that makes him special?
"He's got to play," Loggains said. "(But) you have to understand situational football. It's first-and-10 - you don't need to make that play. I love the fact that he's aggressive, but understand the situation … we're backed up.
"Let's be smart. Let's find a completion. Let's get to our check down, let's run and get what we can and get out of bounds. That's really the biggest thing that you talk to him about. (He was) just trying to do too much in that situation."
Trubisky completed 12 of 25 passes for 128 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception for a 60.1 passer rating. He also ran three times for 22 yards and ran in a 2-point conversion that tied the game 17-17 early in the fourth quarter.
And he said he learned a valuable lesson about aggressiveness in his first NFL action.
"I think that's part of learning what throws I can make and can't make in the NFL," he said. "I think you get away with more of those in college, scrambling, throwing deep, extending, making plays. Here, sometimes it's going to happen, sometimes it's not in the NFL. "It's part of the learning process. But I think extending plays is part of my game and I think we're going to need that and I think it helps. So I've just got to learn when I'm extending plays that it's a for-sure completion or when I just need to eat it and play the next play."
Sunday in Baltimore, Trubisky will face a Ravens defense that is ninth in passing yards allowed, 11th in average gain per pass allowed and, most importantly, No. 2 in the NFL in interception percentage. Trubisky says he won't be tentative.
"You can't be scared," he said. "You've just got to think every time the ball's in your hand, that it's going to be a completion - my guy's going to come down with it.
"So, when you're extending plays, you're not thinking negatively. You're being aggressive and you're playing the game."
• Cornerback Marcus Cooper (back) and linebacker John Timu (knee, ankle) did not practice Wednesday.
Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (chest) was able to work on a limited basis for the first time since he suffered a chest injury in a Week 2 start. Center Hroniss Grasu (hand) also was limited.
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