Mitchell Trubisky expects “better” from his “sloppy” offense

Even though the Chicago Bears played a game last week, their game against the Bengals was “technically” week one of the preseason. That first preseason game usually features the starters for only a series or two, which usually gives them no time to get into a rhythm, or to work through some kinks. Couple that with the fact that they’re also showing basic stuff and it’s expected that number one offenses will look lethargic.

Most of the Bears starters opened up the game last night in Cincinnati, with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completing two of four passes for four yards, while being sacked once behind the Bears’ starting o-line. There was a drop by Kevin White that would have padded their stats more, but Trubisky wasn’t happy with the way his starting unit looked.

“Our standards are higher that we expect to be better,” Trubisky said via NBC Sports Chicago. “No excuse for first preseason game. We have a bunch of experienced guys from last year, so there shouldn’t be any jitters. Maybe guys were excited, but it’s very simple — come out here, do your job, do exactly what we were doing in practice. We practiced our butts off this week. We just came out here and were sloppy.”

During most of training camp, the Bears’ O was lagging behind their defense, but the last couple days of camp the offense started to come around. That didn’t translate like Trubisky had hoped, calling it “surprising” they played poorly.

The drop by White would have moved the chains, but the play was erased by a roughing the passer penalty. “I just have to keep my eyes on it for a second longer,” White said via the Chicago Tribune. “Those are routine plays, and sometimes the easiest ones are the hardest ones. It just takes a little more focus. Knowing I’m open, just catch the ball and get the yards I can get.”

The drop was unfortunate, but it gave the quarterback a chance to lead his team.

“I’ve seen him make that catch 100 times in practice,” Trubisky said via the Chicago Tribune. “That’s something that we rep over and over again. … So I’m just (saying), ‘Kevin, I’m coming back to you.’ He knows I have a lot of confidence in him and we put in a lot of work. We work too hard to let one dropped pass bother us like that. So we move on, and it’s got to be better this week and it will.”

White didn’t play in the Hall of Fame Game last week, so he’ll try and build some rapport with Trubisky when the Bears travel for a couple practices, and the second preseason game, against the Denver Broncos.