Mitchell Trubisky didn't mince words Thursday night when asked to evaluate his performance against the Packers.
"Not that good," said Trubisky. "Not that good. Definitely left a lot of plays out there."
It would be an understatement to say that Trubisky didn't have the 2019 debut that he would have liked. The Bears were held to three points, and Trubisky completed 29 of 45 passes for 228 yards with an interception. The quarterback's postgame demeanor matched the early reviews of his performance, telling reporters that he felt that he'd let his teammates and Bears fans down.
Coach Matt Nagy agreed that the performance had weighed on Trubisky.
"If he is down, that's OK," said Nagy. "I'd rather him be down than be happy. He's down. We will look at this game, go through the 'why' parts of how he can get better and how we can get better everywhere on offense because we need to be better on offense. And then once we do that, we put that aside and move on to Denver."
Nagy emphasized that the coaching staff hadn't lost confidence in the third-year quarterback, and they're not going to let Trubisky lose confidence in himself.
"He'll be fine," said Nagy. "That's our job to make sure that he stays up. We're all down right now. That was a game where there was a lot of hype to it. It's a very meaningful game. But at the same time, we have to make sure that we understand that it is Week 1."
While Nagy didn't attempt to spin the offensive performance, he did highlight some of the choice plays that led the Bears within striking distance towards the end of the game. As has been the case since he arrived in Chicago last year, Nagy has been pushing Trubisky to be decisive in his passing. Nagy believes he has seen progress.
"There were a couple conviction throws, but there was a couple that he could have been a little bit better," said Nagy. "He'll be the first to tell you that. We're trying to get that point to where those conviction throws happen all the time. It's nice when you have green grass in front of you in that pocket to throw. And he didn't always have that. And that's a part of playing ball, though, of playing quarterback in this league."
Nagy continues to speak of Trubisky as a work in progress, a young quarterback still learning the game. Even Trubisky's fourth-quarter interception to former teammate Adrian Amos in the end zone, ending a potential game-tying drive, is an educational opportunity.
"Those are one of those ones, right after you let it go you want it back," said Nagy. "And we're going to continue to keep working with his eyes, making sure he's going to where my eyes are going during the game and then also, too, in that situation, they're playing soft and off and they're letting you dink and dunk underneath."
In the area of silver linings, receiver Allen Robinson II proved to be a reliable top target for Trubisky, grabbing seven catches for 102 yards. It wasn't just the results that impressed Nagy. It was Robinson's style of play, making good on offseason projections that he was finally back to full strength after his 2017 knee injury.
"I feel like there's a guy on that offense last night that was playing with extreme confidence," said Nagy. "That ball was in his area; he was going to make a play. He's been doing that really since the end of last year and then in training camp this year, you could feel it. He's got his legs back. He understands this offense, and he's superior talented."
The Bears will face the Vic Fangio-led Denver Broncos next week, which promises to be another gut check for Trubisky. The quarterback is determined to put Thursday night behind him.
"We've just got to continue to pull together, look within ourselves, and find answers to make sure we're not feeling like this again," said Trubisky.
