Bears name rookie Mitchell Trubisky starting QB over Mike Glennon

The Chicago Bears planned to have No. 2 overall selection Mitchell Trubisky sit as a rookie, but Mike Glennon’s struggles forced the team’s hand and the rookie has been named the starting quarterback for the Bears’ next game, which is against the Vikings on Monday Night Football, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Glennon was signed in the offseason to a three-year, $45 million deal with the Bears after beginning his career in Tampa Bay. While he put up decent stats in Week 1 — 213 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions — the Bears came up short when a pair of possible touchdown passes were dropped in the final seconds of the game.

His performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was much worse, though. Glennon turned the ball over three times in the first half with a fumble and two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown by Tampa Bay cornerback Robert McClain:

While a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3 helped Glennon’s case at staying at the helm, the team hardly passed the ball in that game.

His struggles continued in Week 4, when he turned the ball over four times in a 35-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Some of his mistakes were downright comical, torpedoing the Bears’ chances of staying competitive:

In particular, the knee-fumble above resulted in the Chicago Bears getting owned online by the Twitter account of a candy bar.

Glennon played the entire game, but coach John Fox had seen enough afterward and is handing the reins to Trubisky.

What can the Bears expect from Trubisky? The rookie was impressive in his 2016 season with the North Carolina Tar Heels, but it was his only season as a starter in college. That limited experience likely leaves him with a larger learning curve to overcome.

He completed 68 percent of his passes as a junior with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions before declaring for the 2017 NFL draft. The Bears were sold enough on the skills of Trubisky to trade up one spot to secure his selection — a move that may not have even been necessary.

But Trubisky was impressive in preseason and validated much of what Chicago said made the quarterback worth such an investment. He completed 36 of 53 passes for 364 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, as well as 48 rushing yards.

Glennon wasn’t as convincing with 243 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in a similar amount of time on the field in preseason.

What does this mean for Glennon? The Bears did a lot to protect themselves in the contract with the former Buccaneers quarterback. While $18.5 million guaranteed is a tough pill to swallow for a quarterback benched after four starts, the team gave itself some wiggle room if such a disaster occurred.

He’ll count just $4.5 million against the team’s salary cap in 2018 and $1 million in 2019, so the Bears could save $11.5 million by releasing him after the 2017 season.

It’s too early to tell if the move to Trubisky will be a permanent one, but the Bears will be just fine financially if they decide to turn to their No. 2 overall pick for the future.