You could forgive Mitch Trubisky if he lacked a degree of confidence in the present tense. You could totally understand how his ego may be battered and bruised, spending the last three seasons as a full-time backup after such a promising beginning to his NFL career.
This was, after all, the man who the Chicago Bears traded up to grab in the 2017 draft as the cornerstone of their franchise rebuild. The young man from UNC was selected no. 2 overall, eight spots above Patrick Mahomes and ten spots ahead of Deshaun Watson.
But, despite his frustrating run in Chicago and the disappointing fizzle at the end of his Bears career that led to three years as a second-string player, the 29-year-old still has that “main man” swagger.
Mitch Trubisky Will Start for the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the New England Patriots
He’ll get that opportunity to be the main man this Thursday night when he leads the 7-5 Pittsburgh Steelers in battle against the New England Patriots in a game with serious playoff implications. Replacing starter Kenny Pickett, who just had ankle surgery, Trubisky hopes to make a point about his worthiness as a starter– a job he was originally pegged for when he joined the Steelers in 2022.
He’s certainly saying all the right things ahead of this game.
“Anytime you get on the field, it’s a great opportunity,” Trubisky recently told media regarding his upcoming start in Pittsburgh. “So, I’m looking forward to this for sure.”
“We’re trying to score points,” Trubisky added. “I’m going to be aggressive. I’m going to take care of the football, and we’ve got to play better as an offense. We’re going against a good defense this week that is well-coached. So, we’ve got to do our job and execute.
“We want to be an aggressive offense. So whatever that means, taking care of football, we got to find ways to score points. That’s the bottom line.”
“It’s always a fine line,” Trubisky replied when asked about the conscious effort to avoid turnovers. “I think you can ask any quarterback that you want to be aggressive, but if you’re too safe with the football, you’re not going to move it. So, you’ve got to know what you can do. And you always have got to take care of football. But sometimes you’ve just got to believe in yourself that you can make the throws to move the ball down the field and score points.”
So, again, yeah, the man is talking the talk. His field performance will ultimately determine whether he can walk the walk and stop being that guy who shows flashes of excellence between reason-jarring flubs and miscalculations.
Needless to say, not everyone is sold on Trubisky and maybe, possibly, that includes some of his own teammates?
On Tuesday, Steelers running back Najee Harris was asked about Trubisky’s leadership abilities. His answer did not inspire optimism.
“It’s fine, I guess.” Harris told reporters.
When the reporters followed up on that question, asking about Trubisky’s leadership style, Harris was equally curt.
“Vocal, I guess,” Harris answered.
Mitch Trubisky will have his chance to win the confidence and acclaim of fans and teammates this Thursday against the Patriots and, likely, for the rest of this season (and post-season). This may be the very definition of a do-or-die opportunity for him.