Is there any hope Mitchell Trubisky gets better?
In his Week 1 mailbag, retired NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz covers the Bears’ young quarterback, the Packers’ Super Bowl chances, and why not every player is active on gameday.
It’s time for my NFL mailbag, and now that Week 1 is here, we have actual games to talk about! Thanks again for all the questions. I appreciate the interaction, and the awesome questions I get make this mailbag great.
If you have a question for next week’s mailbag, let me know on Twitter or Instagram.
How does Mitchell Trubisky get better? How frustrating is it for Matt Nagy to be limited by his poor play and not being able to read defenses? — @C_Donalds
The most frustrating thing for Bears fans had to be the lack of trust Matt Nagy seemed to have in Trubisky in the season opener. With weeks to prepare for Week 1 against the Packers, the gameplan was extremely boring and Trubisky looked like a below-average quarterback.
Now, was the conservative gameplan because they didn’t trust Trubisky or because Nagy had an off night? It feels like the former, because Trubisky played poorly last season against the better teams he played. I covered that in my fearless predictions article when I said the Bears wouldn’t make the playoffs this year.
Trubisky won’t be as bad as he was Thursday night — 62.1 passer rating, no touchdowns, one interception, and five sacks — every game this year. I think the Green Bay defense deserves a hat tip for their play. I mean, when was the last time the Packers won a game where the Aaron Rodgers-led offense struggled but they won convincingly anyway?
However, Trubisky’s now in his third year and hasn’t shown any signs he can be the reason his team wins games, especially compared to his fellow 2017 draftees, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. It’s hard to believe he’ll take a significant step forward.
Do you think the Packers can go all the way this year? — @NPill30
Let’s not overreact to the first game of the season. It’s a LONG season and it just began. The Packers’ defense looked fantastic, which isn’t that surprising considering they’ve continued to build up that side of the ball and have an excellent defensive coordinator in Mike Pettine. But, they faced a Bears’ offense that seems limited.
On the flip side, the Packers’ offense struggled against the Chicago defense, which again, isn’t shocking. Getting a new offense quickly up to speed is a rarity — it normally takes 8-10 weeks during the regular season to get one humming. The Packers’ performance in the season opener is typical for a new offense on the road against a tough defense, even with a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.
There were positives, though. The offense did have a few moments where it was clicking and you can see where it could end up.
With that all being said, no, the Packers aren’t winning it all.
Why do teams have 53-man rosters but some players are inactive? Why isn’t everyone available to play outside of injuries? — @What_the_H1ll
I think you answered the question in your question. The NFL has a uniform policy on the number of players allowed to dress for a game. It’s now 46 players, though it used to be 45, with an extra spot for an emergency third quarterback until the NFL tweaked the rule in 2011. Teams with multiple injuries are at an extreme disadvantage if they could only dress 46 and the opponent dresses 53.
I’d love for the NFL to expand the rosters to maybe 58 guys and allow 53 to dress. Or even at the minimum, allow the 53 to dress and have some gameday policy where teams can bring up players from the practice squad onto the active roster just for the game on Sunday, without having to give up a roster spot for that player.