Coach Matt Nagy is impressed by the way quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has handled himself this season both on and off the field.
"He's growing and he's learning," Nagy said. "He's gone through a lot and we've gone through a lot. I'm very proud of the way he's handled himself throughout. I think he'll tell you the words I've been using are 'mentally calloused,' we've all been. We know we want to grow as fast as we can and so we're all trying to do that as best as we can."
Nagy praised Trubisky for his resiliency as he battled injuries, inconsistency and a barrage of outside scrutiny. He highlighted a few of the ways Trubisky has improved his approach to his craft outside of game action.
"I think that he's really grown in that area of being able to become mentally stronger," said Nagy, "whether it's in the game, whether it's throughout the week or whether it's in the classroom with us. So he's become mentally stronger, and we just got to see where it goes."
Trubisky agreed with Nagy's assessment of his year.
"I would say I'm developing," said Trubisky. "Obviously, it doesn't always show in the statistical categories, but I feel like I've learned a lot throughout the season."
In Trubisky's case, there is quite a bit of growth that shows up in the statistics. Over the last six games, Trubisky has improved his completion percentage, thrown for 58 yards more per game, and accounted for nearly three times as many touchdowns as he did in his first six full games of the season.
However, Trubisky sees growth outside of measurable performance.
"I've gotten a lot more comfortable in certain areas," said Trubisky. "I've definitely grown as a leader, being able to speak up, getting closer with coach and being on the same page, communicating throughout the week and being more involved in the game plan and the checks throughout the game."
Trubisky said that the game has started to slow down for him and that he sees the field better than he has in the past. He even drew some compliments from this week's opposing sideline.
"Every quarterback, every game, every situation is not gonna be perfect," said Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid," but (Trubisky's) resilience there, to keep battling like he did through the year, that's something special."
Like all of his teammates who have spoken publicly this week, Trubisky reiterated coach Matt Nagy's declaration that the team would finish the season strong even though the playoffs are no longer a possibility.
Trubisky listed several motivating factors, including Nagy's deep ties to this Sunday's opponent, the Chiefs.
"We want to win for [Nagy]," said Trubisky. "We want to win for our organization. We want to finish this season out on a strong note. We have two more games, right now we're just focused all-in on this one. We have a good opportunity to still get better, improve, and play the game we love and work on our game."
