There is no question that John Fox actually believes he can win with Mike Glennon. That’s Fox’s reality. But in actual reality, even when Glennon is at his best, he will limit what the team can do offensively. The coaches know it, the fans know it and — worse yet — the players know it. If the Bears struggle with Glennon, Fox could lose the locker room. Once that happens, he’s gone.
Glennon deserves credit. It looked as if he needed to play well to keep his job and he did. But Glennon playing well still only gave the offense 10 points against an awful defense. It would’ve been 14, but he missed an easy throw for a touchdown. Glennon is always going to miss throws. His ball placement is terrible. At his best, he’s just a guy who won’t kill you. He’s never going to make the kinds of plays that win games.
The rest of the Bears are good enough that they’ll win seven games that way if they stay completely healthy. They’ve already lost their top receiver and have a quarterback who can’t use either Kevin White or Markus Wheaton on anything aside from bubble screens and quick slants. More realistically, the Bears will end up with five or six wins if Glennon starts all 16 games. Fox probably isn’t keeping his job if they only win five or six games and he sure as hell isn’t keeping it if he loses the locker room along the way.
Maybe Ryan Pace knows that. Maybe he’s the one pulling the strings. But I doubt it. Pace needs some wins too and if you listen to what he has said going back to the start of camp, it has always sounded like he’s much more open to Trubisky starting than Fox is.
Except, there was never even a quarterback competition. Expecting Trubisky to play well with guys he’s barely even practiced with wasn’t realistic.
Fox has been a head coach in the NFL for as long as he has because the players love him. The situation with Glennon might be a reason why. Fox told Glennon he’d have his chance to make an impact and now he’s staying true to his word. But if Fox wants to remain coaching in the NFL he’s either going to have to convince his team that mediocrity (or worse) at the quarterback position is OK or go with the guy everyone — especially those in the locker room — knows is better.
