Bears QB coach Dave Ragone on Mitch Trubisky : âGuys believe in him â
Mitch Trubisky
The big exhale came last week during the Bearsâ open date. Four weeks into  his  tenure as an NFL starter  rookie quarterback  Mitch Trubisky  had the chance to step back  to zoom out  to make a big-picture assessment of  his  progress.
Along with the coaching staff   Trubisky  watched every one of  his  plays from  his  first four starts and pushed to identify  his  strengths as well as the weaknesses  he  must polish immediately to push the offense forward in the second half of the season. Bears quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone has worked closely with  Trubisky  since May and was rejuvenated by the opportunity to perform a midseason review with the rookie.
Ragone recently took time out to offer his perspective on  Trubisky âs overall development and whatâs ahead over the next two months.
On  Trubisky âs overall growth after four starts
On how  Trubisky  learns differently
Just in general  some guys like to spend more time on the (virtual reality) or on the field with walk-through reps or when everybodyâs gone  just watching different cut-ups. And  Mitch  has done a great job with all of that.  He âs fully invested. ...  He  has spent a ton of time in this building.  He âs here with the coaches after practice. And  it âs a matter of each game  it  slows down for  him . There are things that happened in each game that provide learning experiences. There are things  he  has grown from. And now there are eight games more for  him  to continue to build on.
On  Trubisky âs emotional growth
Each experience and each game  ( he âs had) the growth of handling the huddle in loud environments. Then  it âs being at home and handling the excitement of the home fans.  It âs going out and reacting to any situation. In particular  itâs having a touchdown pass and coming off the field and feeling that way. Or itâs not ending a drive with a touchdown pass and seeing how  he  responds to that.  He âs done a great job. Iâll say this about  him :  he âs very even-keeled on the sideline.  He  plays with a lot of passion. But once that possession is over   he  comes to the sideline and  he  is ready to learn and talk about what just happened. Itâs really easy to coach  him   to have a conversation with  him .  He  takes the emotion out of it and goes on to  his  next part  with  his  business. Thatâs a huge growth point for  him  and itâs only going to help  him  in the long run.
Photos of quarterback Mitch Trubisky  who the Bears selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
More than anything else  I judge for  myself  each play on its own with  him . And (last week was) a great chance to go back and look at all of  his  reps in the games. Itâs based on decision making. And we tell  him  all the time â myself and Coach Loggains â do your own job. You canât control anything else once that ball leaves your hand. But it is your job to make sure that you make the best decisions when you have the ball in your hands. And for the most part  and thatâs probably what Iâm most excited about    is  his  ability to process and make decisions and make the right ones has been there. Throwaways  I know  go as incompletions. But itâs a huge growth point. Because young quarterbacks particularly think they can force every ball. And what  Mitch  has done a great job of is when something is not there  he  understands that a punt is better than trying to force a ball into a situation where itâs not needed. And for a quarterback at  his  age and where  he  is in  his  career to understand that pretty thoroughly right now  itâs going to be a huge advantage for  him  as  his  career progresses.
On the ongoing push to refine Trubiskyâs footwork to improve  his  overall mechanics and accuracy
It goes back to a lot of muscle memory in terms of how  he  responds to that. Itâs something we stress to  him . Eyes and feet. Listen to them. Trust them. There are things that happen out there around your feet that are uncontrollable. And  he  is learning each time  he  is out there that trusting the process of  his  eyes and  his  feet will not always lead to a completion but it will lead to  him  essentially having some sort of a successful play. For  him   reps in a game are important. But every time  he  steps out there  you can see the confidence  you can see  his  demeanor  you can see  his  teammates (response). Those are things that are not on the stat sheet but are vitally important to a quarterback  his  age.
The big exhale came last week during the Bearsâ open date. Four weeks into  his  tenure as an NFL starter  rookie quarterback   [TGT] had the chance to step back  to zoom out  to make a big-picture assessment of   [TGT]   progress.
Along with the coaching staff    [TGT]   watched every one of  his  plays from  his  first four starts and pushed to identify  his  strengths as well as the weaknesses  he  must polish immediately to push the offense forward in the second half of the season. Bears quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone has worked closely with  Trubisky  since May and was rejuvenated by the opportunity to perform a midseason review with the rookie.
Ragone recently took time out to offer his perspective on  Trubisky âs overall development and whatâs ahead over the next two months.
On  Trubisky âs overall growth after four starts
On how  Trubisky  learns differently
Just in general  some guys like to spend more time on the (virtual reality) or on the field with walk-through reps or when everybodyâs gone  just watching different cut-ups. And  Mitch  has done a great job with all of that.  He âs fully invested. ...  He  has spent a ton of time in this building.  He âs here with the coaches after practice. And  it âs a matter of each game  it  slows down for  him . There are things that happened in each game that provide learning experiences. There are things  he  has grown from. And now there are eight games more for  him  to continue to build on.
On  Trubisky âs emotional growth
Each experience and each game  ( he âs had) the growth of handling the huddle in loud environments. Then   [TGT]  âs being at home and handling the excitement of the home fans.   [TGT]  âs going out and reacting to any situation. In particular  itâs having a touchdown pass and coming off the field and feeling that way. Or itâs not ending a drive with a touchdown pass and seeing how  he  responds to that.  He âs done a great job. Iâll say this about  him :  he âs very even-keeled on the sideline.  He  plays with a lot of passion. But once that possession is over   he  comes to the sideline and  he  is ready to learn and talk about what just happened. Itâs really easy to coach  him   to have a conversation with  him .  He  takes the emotion out of it and goes on to  his  next part  with  his  business. Thatâs a huge growth point for  him  and itâs only going to help  him  in the long run.
Photos of quarterback Mitch Trubisky  who the Bears selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
More than anything else  I judge for  myself  each play on its own with  him . And (last week was) a great chance to go back and look at all of  his  reps in the games. Itâs based on decision making. And we tell  him  all the time â myself and Coach Loggains â do your own job. You canât control anything else once that ball leaves your hand. But it is your job to make sure that you make the best decisions when you have the ball in your hands. And for the most part  and thatâs probably what Iâm most excited about    is  his  ability to process and make decisions and make the right ones has been there. Throwaways  I know  go as incompletions. But itâs a huge growth point. Because young quarterbacks particularly think they can force every ball. And what  Mitch  has done a great job of is when something is not there  he  understands that a punt is better than trying to force a ball into a situation where itâs not needed. And for a quarterback at  his  age and where  he  is in  his  career to understand that pretty thoroughly right now  itâs going to be a huge advantage for  him  as  his  career progresses.
On the ongoing push to refine Trubiskyâs footwork to improve  his  overall mechanics and accuracy
It goes back to a lot of muscle memory in terms of how  he  responds to that. Itâs something we stress to  him . Eyes and feet. Listen to them. Trust them. There are things that happen out there around your feet that are uncontrollable. And  he  is learning each time  he  is out there that trusting the process of  his  eyes and  his  feet will not always lead to a completion but it will lead to  him  essentially having some sort of a successful play. For  him   reps in a game are important. But every time  he  steps out there  you can see the confidence  you can see  his  demeanor  you can see  his  teammates (response). Those are things that are not on the stat sheet but are vitally important to a quarterback  his  age.