For Chicago Bears' Trubisky, team's high expectations rest on his shoulders

Mitch Trubisky is no longer the exciting young quarterback prospect for the Chicago Bears.

While he still has quite a bit of room for growth, entering his third season and having started 26 of the Bears' last 28 games, Trubisky is a veteran now and a considerable portion of the sky-high expectations for his 2019 Bears rests on his shoulders.

He seemed to recognize as much with his very first public comments July 25 upon arriving at training camp in Bourbonnais.

“Nobody expected us to do what we did last year and now it's kind of flip-sided where there is all these expectations,” he said. “So we have to do a good job of staying focused, blocking that out and just doing exactly what we did last year that helped us win those games and, on top of that, do even more so we can accomplish more than we did last year.

“There is a lot of work to be done.”

On the Sunday following all 32 NFL teams' mandatory cutdown to 53-man rosters almost all that could be done in advance of Thursday night's league opener against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field was behind him, and Trubisky took a moment to reflect on other young teammates who would not be moving forward with him.

“It is really tough. It's the worst part of this business,” he said. “You watch these guys bust their tails off and try to make the squad and make plays in the preseason.

“You root for those guys and you wish and hope that everybody could stay here, but the unfortunate part of the business is that not everybody can. I know they're going to be successful wherever they go, whatever they do next. But it is a tough part of it.

“Whoever's here, we've just got to make the most of what we've got.”

While it has been called the unkindest cut of all, it is a very real part of the process, and Trubisky and all of his teammates know what they're signing up for.

So, with goodbyes and good lucks said Sunday, it was time for the Bears to turn their full attention to the Packers.

With the magnitude of not just the Green Bay rivalry or the 100th anniversary, but also the national TV audience and what is sure to be one of the most watched games of the season, is Trubisky worried about getting too pumped up?

“It really doesn't matter, all the hoopla, kicking off the NFL season, the 100th season. All of that really doesn't matter,” he said.

“When you get in between those white lines, everybody's got to go out there, we've got to just do our job and execute the play at hand.

“If we get caught up in the moment and you let your adrenaline take over and you don't do what the team needs you to do, then I think you could do things that are out of character and put your team in a bad spot.”

Spoken like a true vet, and that's what his head coach, Matt Nagy, believes Trubisky is becoming.

“Yeah, he's been doing it recently where I'm calling the play in practice and calling the play,” Nagy said, “and he's cutting me off because he knows the formation and he knows, 'I got it.' He just cuts me off. I kind of like it.”

Trubisky actually thinks he and his boss are starting to think as one.

“We're very similar as far as wanting to throw the ball down the field, aggressive mindset mentality and taking care of the football,” the quarterback said. “I'm speaking his terminology and just being on the same page. It's all that kind of stuff.

“He's just a great guy to be around, a great coach to play for. I do see myself trying to see the game through his eyes and us being on the same page a lot.”

Is Trubisky ready to make that next big leap every NFL quarterback dreams of accomplishing, jumping from game manager to game-changer?

That can only be proven on the field, but the still young yet now veteran leader of this Bears team does seem to grasp that the ball is very much in his hands.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.