Why shoulder injury affected Mitch Trubisky

Mitch Trubisky had an injury in his non-throwing shoulder. However, as Ryan Pace admitted, this injury also answered a question as to why he was held back

Mitch Trubisky regressed in 2019 and had a poor year. There are plenty of factors including offensive line, tight end, and play calling, but overall, Trubisky carries the blame. While he suffered a shoulder injury in Week three against the Minnesota Vikings, it was to his non-throwing shoulder. He played through it and it cannot absolve him of throwing issues.

However, it may have held him back running the football. Trubisky had 68 rushing attempts for 421 yards in 2018. It was a true factor and added to the run game. He had 48 rushes for 193 yards in 2019. That is a lot less work for a lot less production. When you look at the Bears total offense in 2019 they had 1,458 yards rushing. In 2018 they had 1,938. They lost 480 yards, while Trubisky accounted for 228 fewer yards.

We questioned whether it was Matt Nagy trying to force a pocket passer into his system, or if Ryan Pace was too dead set on a Drew Brees look-alike to let Trubisky be that mobile. Of course, the injuries loomed.

One thing we found was that the Bears called more designed runs overall in 2019 than 2018, but the complete lack of scrambling was taken out of his game.

On Monday at the NFL combine, Ryan Pace noted that he thought the shoulder injury affected his ability on the field.

“It was to his non-throwing shoulder, but when you factor in running, that was probably a factor,” Pace said.

This makes sense as clear moments come to mind of Trubisky being hesitant rather than scrambling, or failing to take a hit to sell an option. It held the team back.

Trubisky is healthy but it is fair to consider if this is a mental issue. If you remember, he missed two games in 2018 due to an injury as well.

He averaged 36.3 rushing yards per game before the injury and averaged 14.5 yards per game in the four games after. Then, in the playoffs, he had three rushes for nine yards in a loss.

When Trubisky is using his legs to extend plays and threaten teams, the Bears have had success. When he doesn’t, they struggle.

Is this something that Trubisky can regain to form?