During a Week 9 win in Buffalo, Trubisky tried to connect with Trey Burton but sailed the pass—describing it simply as “off-target” would be charitable—for an easy interception. Despite a 31-3 lead, Trubisky aggressively unsnapped his helmet strap and slapped his hands together in frustration as he walked off the field. He took a seat on the bench and shook his head as he reviewed photos of the play on a tablet. Miller approached from the far side of the bench, where the tight ends were congregated, and took a seat right next to Trubisky. Dude, forget about it. Are you kidding me? We’re smoking them right now and you’re doing your job. Just go out there and make plays like you always do. Trubisky nodded and relaxed.
Miller took Trubisky under his wing last year when Trubisky was a 23-year-old rookie thrown into the fire as the starter in Week 5. Since then, Miller has had a way of reading Trubisky’s body language and sensing exactly when the 24-year-old signal-caller needs an intervention. “I can just tell where he’s at,” Miller says. “He’s very critical of himself and puts a lot of pressure on himself. I’m there to just tell him, Hey that’s done, it’s time to move on.”
“Anytime it doesn’t look good, he immediately comes over and it’s like a calming presence,” Trubisky says. “He tells me exactly how it is . . . I forget about what happened and I try to make more good plays.”
Bears coaches are appreciative of The Miller Effect. “He is a tremendous asset,” says quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone, who likes to refer to Miller as an honorary quarterback. “I know he has been great for Mitchell as a player.”
“It always seems to happen when it’s needed, and it might not even be something that anyone else sees,” says tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride. “It might not be an interception, it might be the second three-and-out. Other people might not feel that Mitchell needs it, but something inside is telling Zach that he does.”
Trubisky has improved in his first year under Nagy, but he still struggles with consistency and misses too many open throws. He’s sworn off social media for the season, avoiding the criticism directed at him, but the expectations are high for the No. 2 pick of the 2017 draft. The sophomore season is crucial for a quarterback’s development, which makes Miller’s steadying influence even more important. Miller even dresses to support his quarterback. When Chicago hosted the Seahawks on Monday Night Football back in Week 2, Miller sported a shirt that said MITCH PLEASE in block orange letters. “It's like a big brother, little brother type thing,” says backup quarterback Chase Daniel.
“He's looked after me ever since I got here,” Trubisky says. “I'm the oldest of four, so I don't have an older brother. I definitely look at him as an older brother and someone I can talk to at any time about anything.”
Both Miller and Trubisky describe each other with the same three words: “That’s my guy.” The two share the same barber, and they’ll frequently have “haircut nights” where they gather at one of their houses, order in food, watch TV and get haircuts. Miller will pop in Ragone’s quarterback meetings throughout the week to mess with the guys and sometimes even on Saturday nights before the game to check in on Trubisky’s pre-game mindset. “I sat in on their meeting before the Jets game, and he was just dialed in,” Miller says. “The stuff that you have to go through mentally, physically, for me to sit there and watch that, I'm just proud of how he soaks it all in.”
