Last January I had a flight booked for Chicago, a flight I had to re-book multiple times because I had an ear infection and then vertigo.

I also had a ticket bought for the game (which Jeff still owes me for) and was consuming as much talk about the Bears as I could find. I didn’t miss one of what must have been 70 episodes Hoge & Jahns did leading up to the game, and also listened intently to a bunch of national podcasts for any mention of the team. 

And mention them they did.

I vividly remember listening to Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal breaking down the playoffs on the plane. Their analysis of the Bears, representative of the national media at large, all revolved around one man: Mitchell Trubisky. Will he be able to beat the Eagles? What can he do with his feet? Is he a liability or an asset? The Bears’ fortune, in their eyes, was completely dependent on our second-year quarterback. That’s not unreasonable, of course. Trubisky clearly had some ups and downs in the season and, more importantly, every fan of the team has a long-developed, involuntary flinch when their QB drops back for a deep pass.

So that’s what Hoge and Jahns were talking about, right?

Nope.

They spent the whole episode on the kicker.

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On this episode of the Weekend Show:

• Jeff breaks down the BS surrounding the Bears not playing Mitch Trubisky, including their “plan”.
• Adam Jahns of the Sun-Times on injuries (“too big, too strong”), Loggains/Fangio (I got him leaning Loggains) and the main event at QB – where he disputes much of what Jeff believes, including arguing for an actual plan based upon the career of Drew Brees.
• Reverend Dave on Patriots fans in London, with a special shoutout to St. Croix and Puerto Rico.
• Music from The Beatles! New opening number! Same closing number!

Here they come! (I’m on vacation. They’ll be quick.)

1. Mitch Trubisky is not going to sit behind Mike Glennon long and I fully believe the primary reason will be Glennon folding under the pressure of “his year”. The more MG sees MT thrive in practice and preseason, the more he’ll press to keep hold of his tenuous starting gig. I’ll be shocked if Trubisky isn’t calling signals by the bye week.

2. Why would the Bears even consider putting Kyle Long or Danny Trevathan on the field this summer? Both guys are top players coming off serious injuries. Stick em on the bike and get them ready for the Falcons.

3. Asked two or my sources around the league if they think John Fox would be fired if the Bears had a difficult season. They answered with remarkable similarity. One said “it will all depend on the QB’s development.” The other said, “Only if Pace thinks he’s the guy to get most out of QB.” The Bears are all about Trubisky now.

Biggs on Potential Jeffery Trade

While the Cubs were losing Game One of the World Series, rumors were circulating regarding a potential trade of Alshon Jeffery to the Philadelphia Eagles. My opposition to such a move has been stated many times. Brad Biggs addressed the situation in his mailbag this week:

Forget additional draft picks for the Bears for a minute. What would they do at wide receiver without Jeffery? It’s widely assumed at this point that the franchise is going to go in a different direction at quarterback at the end of the season. I imagine general manager Ryan Pace is going to want some wide receivers that can be real assets for his new quarterback. Take Jeffery out of the equation and the Bears are one of the weakest teams in the NFL at the position because they have no idea what Kevin White will be like in 2017. It’s uncertain at this point if White will return from leg surgery to play in December. Eddie Royal is hurt once again and the guaranteed money in his contract is done after this season. Cameron Meredith has been a pleasant surprise with expanded opportunities in the last two months but he’s probably not ready to be a frontline player. I think there is a much better chance the Bears look at signing Jeffery to a long-term contract averaging $14 million per season.

The bottom line to me is trading Jeffery for a mid-round draft pick doesn’t benefit the Bears.

If Ryan Pace doesn’t value Jeffery, Ryan Pace is wrong.

JAHNS ON CUTLER AND FOX

Adam Jahns and I will spend a lot of time on tomorrow’s podcast discussing Jay Cutler so I won’t sample any of that material here. But I did like the frustration emanating out of his lede here:

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