Sunday at Soldier Field.Asked if he would be 100 percent healthy or hindered by
the sprained right ankle he suffered Oct. 14
Richard Dent Jerseys 2019 , the Chicago Bears' pass rusher smiled on Friday, but hedged."You want me to give up everything?" Mack said. "When I get there, I'm
going to try to be myself."If that means 100 percent healthy, it could be a
problem for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford ??especially after the Lions
(3-5) gave up 10 sacks to the Minnesota Vikings last week.Mack has been out two
weeks but practiced Friday to complete three straight days of full work. He is
not listed on Chicago's injury report and is expected to play.Also expected to
play is wide receiver Allen Robinson (groin), who was dropped from the injury
list after completing Friday's practice."They're doing good right now and I like
what I see," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "So we've just got to continue to keep
it in that direction. And if we do, then come game time, we'll be able to make a
decision and feel good one way or the other."Mack had five sacks in the first
four games, then tried playing through the injury in two games before sitting
and seeing his streak of 70 straight games come to an end."We know what we've
got here and just understanding the situation, it was better for the team," Mack
said. "So I bit my tongue and sat back and listened instead of trying to do too
much in the situation."We got two wins and trying to make it three."The
victories made sitting somewhat easier to accept, but Mack did want to be a part
of them."It was real tough for me, knowing the type of person that I am," Mack
said. "But even then I'm excited to get out there this week."The Bears (5-3)
continued to play effective defense without Mack, who came over in a trade with
Oakland just before the start of the season. They rank fifth overall and third
against the run."I'm excited to come here and play with these guys, knowing that
they have the talent that they have," Mack said. "Even without me, it's a hell
of a thing."I'm excited to be a part of the party this week and get ready for
Detroit."Nagy likes how the team handled getting past the injuries to Mack and
Robinson. Aaron Lynch moved into the lineup in place of Mack, while Taylor
Gabriel and Anthony Miller stepped up as targets for Mitchell Trubisky."I think
one of the things, you always want to have a contingency plan in case
White Mike Ditka Jerseys ," Nagy said. "We've had a couple guys this year where we've had to deal with backups in certain cases, and I think our guys have done
well. Having depth, that's important for any team in this league to be able to
feel good with that going into it."NOTES: Bears wide receiver Taylor Gabriel
(knee) practiced Friday for the second straight day and is off the injury list,
as well. Defensive end Bilal Nichols was limited in Friday's practice and goes
in Sunday as questionable. ... The other personnel matter to be decided at game
time for the Bears is whether to activate tight end Adam Shaheen from injured
reserve after he went out in the preseason with a foot injury. Let’s take a look
at some historical data on how quarterbacks have improved in their second year
running an Andy Reid type of offense."Did Mitchell Trubisky improve from his
rookie season to his second season?The numbers seem to indicate that he did. But
taking the stats out of the equation, did he grow as a passer under head coach
Matt Nagy while learning a new offense?The film indicates he did as well. This
isn’t even up for debate. Not at all. If you really watched Trubisky play in
2018 and your takeaway is that he regressed, then — like I’ve been saying for
months now — you either haven’t the slightest bit of football intelligence or
you’re a troll (maybe both). He’s not a finished product by any means, and he
still makes some mistakes that many young quarterbacks do, but he’s growing. I
thought he played decent football as a rookie when considering the offense he
was in andthe lack of receivers around him, but this year with a new offense and
new talent, I thought he started to show the type of player you move up in the
draft for. Many Bears fans — and some NFL analysts — wanted to compare the
addition of head coach Matt Nagy to Chicago to what the Los Angeles Rams did by
hiring head coach Sean McVay in 2017. I always thought it was a fair comparison.
You had each franchise going from an old school, defensive minded head coach, to
a new and innovative offensive mind. Each franchise hired their new head coach
in hopes of developing their second year quarterbacks. The Rams traded up to
number one overall in 2016 to take Jared Goff, and they sent their first-round
pick in 2016 (15th overall), two second-round picks in 2016, a third-round pick
2016, a 2017 first-round pick and another third-round pick from the 2017 draft.
The Rams received back from the Titans, that top pick in 2016, a fourth-round
pick in 2016, and a sixth-round er in 2016. Goff was bad as a rookie on Jeff
Fisher’s Rams’ squad. The Bears moved up to the second overall spot in the 2017
draft to take Trubisky, and they sent their number one
Mike Ditka Jerseys 2019 , plus a third-round pick in 2017, a fourth-round pick, and a 2018 third-rounder. Trubisky didn’t exactly light it up in John Fox’s
predictable offense.However, both the Rams and the Bears improved immensely
under new leadership that second season, and each QB saw improvements in their
play as well. They say a quarterback usually makes a big jump as a player in his
second year as a professional, and I alluded to Trubisky’s numbers earlier, so I
wanted to share them here. Trubisky
GrowthTRUBISKY20172018DifferenceTRUBISKY20172018DifferenceTrubisky GrowthA bit
about the table before we move on. PR = The traditional passer rating the NFL
has been using for years.QBR = The ESPN created quarterback rating that takes
many factiors into account, includingsuccess of each play, rushing stats,
penalties and more. ESPN altered their formula at some point after debuting the
analytic, and it’s gaining steam as a valid number. You can learn all about the
“stat” here, Comp % = Completion percentageTD % = Percentage of times a TD is
thrown. INT % = Percentage of times an interception is thrown. In the difference
category, a negative number actually equates to a positive result. Sack % =
Percentage of times a player is sacked. In the difference category you’d also
like to see a negative result from he first year to the next. YPA = Yards per
attemptYPG = Yards per game. On some players I only calculated yards per game
per start because their partial games would have skewed the difference totals.
While there’s no way to know if Trubisky would have improved that much under
Fox’s leadership, I think it’s safe to say he took to Nagy’s coaching.Since 2019
will be Trubisky’s second year in the same offense, I wanted to look at some of
the numbers from other quarterbacks working in a similar system for a second
consecutive season. Matt Nagy comes from the Andy Reid coaching tree, who came
from the Mike Holmgren coaching tree, who came from Bill Walsh’s West Coast
Offense coaching tree. Walsh may have mastered the WCO and taught it to his
disciples, but the offense has undergone changes through the years. The
terminology is relatively the same, but some of the principles have changed with
each offensive mind that has spun from his tree. The last several years have
seen Reid’s version of the WCO start to adopt some of the concepts that have
been popularized in the college ranks. His success has given way to several head
coaches though the years, but I wanted to focus on the offensive branches from
his tree
White Tom Waddle Jerseys , and take a look at how the quarterbacks in “his” system have fared in year two. I think by knowing the type of statistical jump other
QBs have had from the first year to the next in Reid’s offense, that will give
us a good idea of what to expect for Trubisky in 2019. Keep in mind that this is
a numbers exercise. I’m not going through the tape to check on fundamentals or
mechanics, but I think a snapshot of a few numbers will paint a good picture for
us. I’ll give some seasonal context, but for the most part this will be all
about the stats. Let’s start way back in 1999 with the first quarterback that
was all Andy Reid’s, Donovan McNabb. Before being hired by the Philadelphia
Eagles in 1999, Reid had served the previous seven years with the Green Bay
Packers, and in 1997 and 1998 he was Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach under head
coach Mike Holmgren. Philly fans hated the McNabb pick, but he turned into a
6-time Pro Bowler during his 11 years with the Eagles. Check out how he grew
from the first to the second year in Reid’s offense.Donavan McNabbMcNabb
GrowthMCNABB19992000DifferenceMCNABB19992000DifferenceMcNabb appeared in 12
games as a rookie, but he only started 6 of them, hence the yards per game in
starts. The quarterback he split time with that season was Doug Pederson, but
more on him later.In 2000, McNabb started all 16 games as he helped the Eagles
to an 11-5 record, and he made his first Pro Bowl. While his numbers as a passer
drastically improved his second year in Reid’s offense, his Pro Bowl appearance
had something to do with his 629 yards rushing. McNabb was Reid’s QB1 until
2010, when another athletic QB took over in Philly. In 2009 the Eagles signed
Michael Vick after a two year suspension and he barely played for Reid. He only
threw 13 passes and had 24 rushing attempts as he was more of a gimmick player
that first season being coached by Reid. Michael VickVick
GrowthVICK20092010DifferenceVICK20092010DifferenceBut in 2010, Vick started 12
games, he returned to the Pro Bowl, and he had his best season as a passer while
racking up career bests in passer rating, QBR, completion percentage
Tom Waddle Jerseys 2019 , and TD passes. Andy Reid took a 30-year old Michael Vick and he helped him become a better quarterback.Who says you can’t teach an old dog
new tricks?Brad Childress was Reid’s offensive coordinator in Philadelphia from
2002 to 2005, and prior to that he spent two years as his quarterbacks coach. In
2006, the Minnesota Vikings hired Childress to be their head coach, so he took
the Reid offensive philosophy and started to teach it to rookie 2nd-round draft
pick, Tarvaris Jackson. Brad Johnson was Childress’ number one quarterback in
2006, but in 2007 the Vikes turned the reigns over to Jackson. Let’s see how he
improved from one year to the next.Tarvaris JacksonJackson
GrowthJACKSON20062007DifferenceJACKSON20062007DifferenceJackson wasn’t as
talented as McNabb or Vick, and he never made a Pro Bowl, but he did steadily
improve under Childress’ coaching. That first year he only had 2 starts while
appearing in 4 games, but in year two he started all 12 of the games he played
in. Let’s circle back to Coach Reid and look at his first year in Kansas City.
In 2013 he had Alex Smith as his starting QB after Smith spent 2005 to 2012 in
San Francisco. Reid helped get him to his first Pro Bowl in 2013, and Smith was
a more efficient QB that second season with Reid. And by the way, Smith’s QB
coach these two years was Matt Nagy.Alex SmithSmith
GrowthSMITH20172018DifferenceSMITH20172018DifferenceMost of Smith’s numbers
increased, but he was the only guy that saw his yards per game drop a bit. The
last quarterback I want to look at is also the most recent. Doug Pederson went
from being Reid’s offensive coordinator in K.C., to being the head coach of the
Eagles and just like his mentor before him, he got a rookie quarterback to work
with from the start. Carson Wentz was picked second overall in the 2016 draft.
Carson WentzWentz GrowthWENTZ20162017DifferenceWENTZ20162017DifferenceWentz
really blossomed that second year in the same offense, and he was being
mentioned as a possible MVP candidate before he was injured. He was having
another good statistical year this season before the injuries caught back up
with him. He was also the only player that had a small dip in completion
percentage. So every QB we looked at saw their passer rating increase in the
second year in the same system. Being comfortable in the offense won’t just be a
be a plus for Trubisky, but for the entire offense as well. The better Allen
Robinson II, Taylor Gabriel, Trey Burton and the other receivers all know their
jobs, the better Trubisky can do at his job. At the end of the season press
conference, head coach Matt Nagy said that
White William Perry Jerseys , “What I’m most excited about is when we get to OTAs, and we get to training camp, I can’t even begin to explain how pumped up I
am to take what we just put together this past year and fine tune it to our
players, and our coaches, and our scheme. And then just get it down to what we
think gives us a better opportunity to be much better next year.”He talked about
how the players had to essentially learn a new language this last offseason, and
they had to concern themselves with little things like where to line up, but
“they all know that now, we’re speaking the same lingo,” Nagy said. “When we
show up for OTAs (in 2019), remember I kept saying (Football) 101, now we’re on
to 202.”I wouldn’t expect a +22.6 passer rating increase like Wentz did in his
second year in the system, but if Trubisky did do that, then we’d be talking
about a guy in the mix for MVP. And speaking of MVP, there is one other
quarterback that saw a significant increase in his numbers in his second year
working with Andy Reid. And, by the way, he was also coached by Matt Nagy as a
rookie, but since Patrick Mahomes only played in one game in 2017, I didn’t want
to include him in this exercise.I’m not sure how much of a jump Mitchell
Trubisky will make, but I’m certain he’ll grow in year two of Matt Nagy’s
offense.
