Mitchell Trubisky was recently quoted as saying he watched the TV copy of a loss this season in order to better understand how his outward appearance can affect his teammates.
Now he wants the TVs turned off entirely.
Trubisky's Bears are 3-5 and currently in last place in a competitive NFC North -- a division they were projected to win after doing so in 2018. Instead, they're battling to stay afloat and losing close games in frustrating fashion.
Their on-field results have produced a good amount of off-field criticism. Trubisky doesn't want to hear it.
"I've done pretty good with that," Trubisky said. "Trying to get some of these TVs in the building turned off because you've got too many people talking on TV about us and what they think about us, what we should do, what we are and what we're not. But they don't really know who we are or what we're capable of as people or what we're going through or what we're thinking. It's just the outside viewers looking in. So, tunnel vision, earmuffs and just come to work every day and try to get better and get back to what we know we're capable of doing."
Last season, the Bears showed they were capable of succeeding with suffocating defense and doing enough on offense to come away victorious. The same was true of Trubisky, who posted a 95.4 passer rating and a 24-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
But he hasn't produced nearly as much in 2019, and it's keeping the Bears from matching their success from last season.
Trubisky's numbers have fallen -- to an 80 passer rating with just five touchdowns and three interceptions to his name in seven games -- and so have the wins. In the last three weeks, the Bears have lost by a single possession in two games. In those same contests, Trubisky has thrown one interception and been shut out of the end zone through the air while finishing with sub-76 passer ratings in each outing.
One could track the beginning of Chicago's struggles to Week 5, when Trubisky was unable to play due to a shoulder injury. Since he's returned, Chicago has lost three straight.
At this point, is it the televisions causing the issues or subpar play? The Bears can only control the latter, which Trubisky said they're working on improving. Turning TVs off might not help, but might be seen as necessary for a team that will have to look inward in order to start a potential turnaround.
That can begin this week with a contest against Detroit, which is just slightly above Chicago in the standings at 3-4-1.
