Mitchell Trubisky knows the score.
Ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Houston Texans, the Bears QB understands comparisons will be made between his struggles and the star turn of draft classmate Deshaun Watson.
"I don't control that narrative," Trubisky said, via The Associated Press. "I don't control what people say about it. It is always going to be a story just because that's the draft class we came in."
Trubisky, Watson and Patrick Mahomes will forever be linked by where they were picked in the 2017 draft. The main crux of the storyline is the Bears trading up to grab Trubisky No. 2 overall, only to watch him struggle while Watson (12th overall) and Mahomes (10th overall) morphed into superstars.
"That storyline is never going to leave for any of those guys, just like it doesn't for any of those quarterback classes you run into," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "Usually they're all compared."
For Chicago fans, "what ifs" will always abound about what might have been had Bears GM Ryan Pace been enamored with Watson or Mahomes rather than Trubisky. Watson said this week that the Bears passing on him adds no additional motivation.
For Trubisky, constantly being compared to two current faces of the entire NFL could be burdensome. The 26-year-old knows the only way to turn around the storyline is to improve his play.
"It was me, Deshaun and Pat," he said. "We were picked where we were, and now it's up to us to make the most out of our opportunities. They've done a great job with theirs and I'm still trying to write my story here, so that's all there is to it, and my opportunity is to go out and lead my team this week and try to get a win. I'm excited about that. I'm also happy for their success as well because obviously they've earned it."
With Trubisky not under contract in Chicago for next year, Sunday's game against Watson could be their only matchup with their drafted teams. Regardless of what the future holds for the three signal-callers, they'll always be linked in history.