Mitch Trubisky was feeling it again by the time a light morning rain stopped falling on Bears practice Monday.
First he beat an outside linebacker’s blitz by locating Allen Robinson in single coverage and lofting a throw where only Robinson could catch it. Touchdown.
Then a short completion to Marlon Brown’s outside shoulder when cornerback Kyle Fuller had Brown covered to the inside. Perfect ball placement.
Then a jump-ball touchdown to Anthony Miller. And another touchdown by anticipating Trey Burton’s crossing route in the end zone.
Trubisky had pretty much locked in, just as he did Sunday, when coach Matt Nagy praised his anticipation and accuracy. He made it through Monday without being intercepted, the first time in 11 full-speed practices this summer he has done so.
It appears — in a tiny sample, anyway — that all the practice reps are starting to take hold in his mind and body. Suddenly, the second-year quarterback has stacked two strong practices to generate positive momentum entering his 2018 exhibition debut Thursday night against the Bengals.
“It’s clicking, and I am feeling that anticipation (of throws),” Trubisky said. “The offense is starting to slow down, all the installs are becoming smaller and smaller, and we’ve become more specific with what we’re running day to day, week to week. I’m able to process faster, and that allows me to play faster getting out of the huddle (with) faster tempo.
“I just go through my reads, and I know exactly where the ball needs to go, and that’s when I can really just throw it and dice ’em up.”
How’s that for confidence?
Of course, it’s only practice. Just as alarm bells were inappropriate as Trubisky averaged about two interceptions per practice through July, it would be premature to say he has full command of coach Matt Nagy’s offense.
On a micro level, though, in the dog days of camp, there’s mounting evidence that the Bourbonnais testing ground for Trubisky is accomplishing what Nagy and the coaching staff intended.
“It’s a growth mindset,” quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone said Monday. “What you saw today on a couple of throws, he may not have made those throws three days ago, a week ago, two weeks ago. But he’s now got a tremendous amount of confidence that Anthony Miller is going to go get that ball for him. Or Allen Robinson is going to go get that ball for him.”
Nagy, Ragone and coordinator Mark Helfrich have encouraged Trubisky to explore which throws he can make against certain coverages and which receivers he can connect with on certain routes.
That has resulted in more training-camp interceptions than Nagy would tolerate during regular-season preparation and games. But as Trubisky begins his fifth month in the system, it’s part of learning what he and the Bears can exploit.
“Right now, things are obviously slowing down,” Ragone said. “Reps are starting to compile. He feels confident. You can see it. When he gets in and out of the huddle and he gets to the line of scrimmage, you can feel it. That’s great. That’s where we’re hopefully going.”
The uptick was rather sudden. On Saturday, in the team’s first practice since first-stringers essentially had three days off as part of the Hall of Fame Game, Nagy was displeased by the team’s sloppy and disjointed performance. Trubisky was inaccurate and out of rhythm.
But Sunday, it was as though he flipped on a switch. Trubisky started dealing.
“He grew in the fact of (Sunday) was an anticipation and accuracy day for him,” Nagy said. “He threw the ball early and on time, and then he was very accurate. There were some tight windows, and he hit a lot of those.”
That Trubisky continued dealing Monday was a glimpse of the consistency he’s seeking.
It would take something special Thursday against the Bengals to eclipse the hype that exploded last August when he completed his first 10 passes in his exhibition debut.
But there’s just as much intrigue to see a more experienced, advanced Trubisky in a vanilla version of Nagy’s offense than there was to see him a year ago in a Bears uniform for the first time.
Whatever happens in Cincinnati, Trubisky has proved himself capable of putting such developmental moments into proper perspective and narrowing his focus.
Leave the overreactions to practice touchdowns and interceptions to others, because more work remains.
“Even if he has a really good throw, it’s the same as if there’s a poor throw,” Nagy said. “He’s just right to the very next play. He might feel good about it, but then after five seconds, it’s, OK, get the play call, stay in that routine and roll.”
rcampbell@chicagotribune.com
