Bears ‘taking down’ Mitch Trubisky: ESPN host’s sad claim

Not everyone hates Mitch. After the Chicago Bears declined the fifth-year option on embattled quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s four-year, $29 million fully guaranteed rookie contract, setting up a potential breakup after this season, many in the NFL community laughed and saw it as validation Trubisky shouldn’t have been selected with the No. 2 pick of the …

Not everyone hates Mitch.

After the Chicago Bears declined the fifth-year option on embattled quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s four-year, $29 million fully guaranteed rookie contract, setting up a potential breakup after this season, many in the NFL community laughed and saw it as validation Trubisky shouldn’t have been selected with the No. 2 pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Longtime sports reporter and ESPN personality Mike Wilbon is not among them, saying Wednesday on “The Rich Eisen Show” that “I feel bad for Mitch Trubisky. He has a coach [Matt Nagy] that doesn’t want to coach him. Trubisky is being taken down by a coach and GM [Ryan Pace] who won’t back him.”

Trubisky already has been labeled a draft bust, especially after taking a major step backward last season in which Chicago went 8-8 and missed the playoffs after going 12-4 the year before, which mostly was due to the Bears defense rather than Trubisky and Nagy’s offense.

Now, the 25-year-old Trubisky will go up against Eagles’ Super Bowl hero Nick Foles in what Pace already has declared an open competition for the starting job. The Bears acquired the 31-year-old Foles from the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason after he played in just four games last year because of a broken clavicle.

Trubisky, who threw 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season in 15 games, reportedly had a rift with his head coach. Nagy took over after Trubisky’s rookie season after having served as the offensive coordinator with this year’s Super Bowl MVP, Patrick Mahomes, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bears traded up to select Trubisky, while the Chiefs snagged Mahomes, easily the best quarterback in football, with the 10th pick.

“This coach doesn’t want to coach him,” said Wilbon, a big Chicago sports fan. “I know that from players who were in Kansas City at the time. I’m like the last person defending Mitch.”

The Bears offense often looked discombobulated last season, with Trubisky, who is more effective when he runs as much as he throws, being limited in Nagy’s offense. Trubisky was so ticked off after a loss to Green Bay that he questioned Nagy’s game plan for the offensive line.

“I thought we could have taken more pressure off [the offensive line] moving the pocket a little more and me getting out [of the pocket],” Trubisky said at the time.

Nagy, who sat Trubisky one game, citing a hip injury, downplayed the comments and attributed it to Trubisky’s frustration after completing just 29 of 53 pass attempts for 334 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked three times.

Regarding the Bears declining the fifth year-option, which means Trubisky has one chance to save his job in Chicago, Wilbon said, “it’s just wrong to treat Trubisky this way. … If they coach him hard, and he isn’t up to it, let him go.”

Wilbon said the Bears never should have traded picks Nos. 3, 67, 111 and a third-rounder in 2018 for Trubisky, that it put too much pressure on Trubisky and that he can’t handle it.

The anti-Trubisky chatter grew so loud that the UNC product tried to shut down all TVs in the team’s complex. That isn’t a problem now, with facilities off limits because of the coronavirus. The league is set to release its schedule on Thursday, but it is uncertain whether the NFL will open in time for the Sept. 10 start date.

The spotlight will be on the Bears, Trubisky drama whenever the season begins.