Matt Nagy denies Mitchell Trubisky was benched for performance
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy affirmed Monday that Mitchell Trubisky’s removal from Sunday night’s game was because of an injury, not performance.
Trubisky left Sunday night’s game during the fourth quarter with the Bears down 17-7. The visuals suggested Trubisky had been benched, but the Bears said that Trubisky had a hip injury. That did nothing to stop many from thinking that the Bears were using something minor as an excuse to sit out their quarterback without looking like they’d lost all faith in him.
On Monday, Nagy said Trubisky suffered a hip pointer in the second quarter, and denied that the quarterback’s removal had anything to do with performance.
Nagy on Trubisky injury: "He has a right hip pointer. It happened on the sack at the end of the second quarter."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 18, 2019
Nagy: “Every decision that was made, it had zero to do with his play. It was completely based off his injury and where he was at.”
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 18, 2019
Trubisky admitted his hip was bothering him late in the game. He had gone 24-of-43 for 190 yards, a poor performance in a season full of them. It was the timing that raised eyebrows, and it will continue to do so. Trubisky deserved to get benched, and skeptics will continue to question whether he was all that injured no matter what Nagy says.