As the 2018 NFL season rolls on into Week 4, NFL.com's network of reporters collects the hottest news and notes from across the league, including:
-- Why the Browns are so confident in Baker Mayfield.
-- The hand behind Ryan Tannehill's hot start.
-- Carson Wentz's determination to remain himself.
But first, Jeffri Chadiha digs into the growing pains -- and potential -- of the Bears' offense and QB Mitchell Trubisky ...
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- There is ample excitement in Chicago over a dominant Bears defense, an early NFC North lead and an upcoming matchup with the suddenly potent Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There are also some sadly familiar questions about what's happening at the quarterback position. For all who believe the Bears have the look of a playoff contender, there are plenty who wonder if the Chicago offense ultimately will let this team down. All of which means one thing: Quarterback Mitch Trubisky had better grow up in a hurry.
All the hoopla that followed Trubisky's arrival as the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft now has given way to the predictable skepticism about whether he will become a true difference-maker. He's thrown two touchdown passes against three interceptions this season, and his 77.8 passer rating ranks 25th among qualified players in the NFL. Chicago is averaging 293.7 yards per game (26th in the league) and only 178 passing yards per contest (28th). For a team that invested plenty in offensive weapons this offseason -- adding wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, along with tight end Trey Burton -- the Bears are a long way from looking formidable.
This explains why there's so much talk this week about simplifying some aspects of the system installed by first-year head coach Matt Nagy. Instead of pushing Trubisky to be something he's not ready to be yet, the Bears are seeking a way to make success much easier to attain.
"I'm going to do whatever they decide to put on my plate," Trubisky said during a press conference on Wednesday. "I have to make sure I study and do my job. If we have to pull back and simplify to play faster, then that's what they're going to do. My job is to come in here and do the best I can to the best of my ability. Coach Nagy always says it's the first year in the offense, and this is his first year as a coach. We're all just grinding away and trying to figure this thing out."
Trubisky actually has two issues working against him at the moment. The first is the weight of higher expectations placed upon him now that the Bears have ridden their defense to a 2-1 start. The other problem is the way the 2017 draft played out after Chicago traded up to snag him. The second quarterback selected in that class (Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, drafted 10th overall) has 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions this season, while the third signal-caller chosen (Houston's Deshaun Watson, selected 12th overall) had 19 touchdowns and eight picks before sustaining a season-ending knee injury seven games into his rookie year.
In fairness to Trubisky, he doesn't have to be Mahomes or Watson. He only has to be the quarterback the Bears need him to be to win games. He's fortunate to have an offensive-minded head coach in Nagy, who was Kansas City's offensive coordinator last season and knows a thing or two about making quarterbacks feel comfortable. Nagy helped former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who is now in Washington, post the league's best passer rating last season, and that wasn't just because Kansas City had an assortment of dynamic weapons.
Nagy saw the way Smith responded to having a collection of plays that he liked running, even concepts that Smith used during his college days at Utah back in the early 2000s. The Bears are trying a similar approach with Trubisky, who completed 59.4 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions as a rookie.
"We can't put him in a situation where we're trying to do too much and we take away from [the other players'] talents," Nagy said. "If we're doing too much -- and making him think too much -- they're going to play slow and not be efficient. That's part of what we get paid to do as coaches -- to know what that balance is."
Along with finding more balance between the plays Nagy wants to run and the plays Trubisky likes, the coaches are emphasizing the importance of a basic approach within the game. As backup quarterback Chase Daniel (who played for Nagy in Kansas City from 2013 to '15) said, "In this offense, there are so many options on every single play. What he's been working on a lot -- especially with all the checks -- is focusing on a couple things on each play and just rolling with that. Here's your man side. Here's your zone side. Don't think too much about it. Just get a completion and take what the defense gives you."
The Bears understand the pressure that Trubisky is under right now. He only spent one season in college as a full-time starter before entering the draft after his redshirt sophomore year at North Carolina. He's only played in 15 games in the NFL, and he's learning a new system in just his second season. Most players with that little experience would be facing the same struggles he's currently battling.
The good news is, the Bears understand the situation. Nagy said Trubisky is "where I thought he would be," and Daniel added that "everybody in this locker room has confidence in Mitch." The key thing for Trubisky is to avoid getting into his own head. Said Daniel: "He's so hard on himself that I am drilling it into him to just relax. Don't worry about the outside. Just focus on one play at a time."
Nagy has taken the same approach. The question going forward is, when will all that encouragement yield more production?
"I really do appreciate it," Trubisky said when asked about Nagy's support. "It means a lot to me, especially because of how hard I am on myself. He's had my back and been very supportive. I believe in him and this process and everything we're going through. We're going to have a breakthrough. It's going to come, and I believe that."
NOTES FROM AROUND THE REST OF THE LEAGUE
NFL: Speedy receivers altering the landscape. In the first several weeks of the NFL season, we're witnessing the dramatic impact that wide receiver speed is having on how offenses are exploiting defenses. The Chiefs' Tyreek Hill and the Buccaneers' DeSean Jackson have changed games with a single play or even just by simply lining up.
Heading into Week 2, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins told me his No. 1 priority ahead of Philly's matchup with the Buccaneers was to give an extra look or take an extra step Jackson's way on every play, to make sure Jackson didn't beat them deep. On the first play from scrimmage of the game, Jackson scored on a 75-yard touchdown catch after getting behind Jenkins and the Eagles' secondary.
"They have to game-plan for a guy with that speed," 49ers running back Alfred Morris said, when discussing San Francisco wide receiver (and Olympic athlete) Marquise Goodwin and Week 3's 49ers-Chiefs matchup, which featured a speedster battle between Hill and Goodwin. "They're game-planning for Goodwin and we're game-planning for Hill."
All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins told me this week that fellow Houston receiver Will Fuller's speed changes the way defenses play against the Texans. He can notice the difference in terms of where the secondary is lining up when he gets to the line. "Everything is different. My life is so much easier when Will is on the field," Hopkins said. Notably, Houston's offense changed dramatically when Fuller was injured for a long stretch last season.
"You can't sit on certain routes," Morris told me, referring to how defenses face the Niners when Goodwin is on the field. "You have to make sure the guy can't run down the field, and if you don't (do that), that's when the guy gets big touchdowns. And then you try and over-correct the next time, and it opens up other passing lanes for guys, and for us as runners. Say you are bracketing guys and doubling or whatever. When you have guys paying attention to WRs and not the backfield, that's one less defender we have to worry about. So it helps even in the run game, at the start, at least, [to] get those extra eyes off us, because they have to respect a guy like that."
Jackson, Goodwin and Hill are arguably three of the fastest players in the NFL, and they're essentially making life easier on each of their quarterbacks.
"You're either going to get a really, really deep safety back, or they're going to start favoring Hill's side and still be deep," Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne told me. "In single high, you usually don't get the bend routes or anything. We can bend them now, because the guy is so deep. Not that we're going to bend them really like it's a Cover 2, but these guys can adjust their routes accordingly if the safety is going to favor or doesn't want to get beat deep. Because of Tyreek, we can still attack the middle."
Roughing the passer penalties continued on a serious uptick through Week 3. In 2017, there were 109 roughing the passer penalties. Through three weeks of the 2018 NFL season, there have been 34 -- which puts the league on pace for 181, or an increase of 72 (66 percent). Time will tell if the Competition Committee's effort this week to clarify the NFL's point of emphasis on penalizing defenders who land with their body weight on quarterbacks results in a change in this pace.
The Competition Committee, which has a regularly scheduled conference call planned for next Tuesday, held a conference call Wednesday night focused solely on the roughing the passer penalties, a call requested by Commissioner Roger Goodell, presumably to give game officials guidance before the start of the fourth week of games.
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CHICAGO BEARS: Team taking unique approach to ball security. Through three weeks, the Bears rank fifth in total defense. But more important than the numbers, is the unit's opportunistic approach. As a team, pressure up front has earned the group 14 sacks, good for No. 1 in the league. And with that pressure, they've wrangled in five picks (T-3rd), eight total takeaways (T-2nd), and a league-leading seven forced fumbles. Just how important are the forced fumbles?
Head Coach Matt Nagy revealed on Friday, the Bears actually have a moving, magical football of sorts, that finds its way all over the premises at the team's home base, Halas Hall, to reinforce the importance of taking control of the football.
Said Nagy: "We have some things around the building, footballs, we have a moving football. That's on a stand. That we move around everywhere in different areas of the whole complex. When the defense sees it, they hit it. When the offense sees it, they grab it for ball security. This is something that we talk about all the time. I give credit to our defensive coaches. It's something that they stress. They don't just talk about it one day -- they talk about it every day, all the time."
And they don't just physically rep it. It's a visual practice to further instill the mentality Nagy speaks of: "They show it on video. They show the techniques of how to strip that ball. So it's a mentality. It's certainly not luck.
Needless to say, the media base was beyond intrigued with the concept of a seemingly secret moving football around Halas Hall, asking Nagy how this is possible, and where it lands on the team's campus:
"It's magic, it just kind of moves around on its own," Nagy said. "One day we might see it over at the Walter Payton Center. And the next day it might be in the cafeteria. It's crazy. When you go to bed, and you wake up in the morning, it's somewhere else. So there's somebody moving it, but I don't know who."
Magic aside, this group puts in the work. And while the Bears were already expected to return their top-10 defense from a season ago, it is undeniable the difference that one man in particular has made -- Khalil Mack. Off to the best start of his career now in his fifth season, Mack already has four sacks, three forced fumbles and one defensive touchdown. What has stood out and impressed Nagy about No. 52?
"You just see how he comes to work every day. His days don't change. So every day he's out there it's the same routine ... the reps don't catch up to him. He's always going non-stop."
The 2-1 Bears face the 2-1 Buccaneers on Sunday, who enter the matchup with the NFL's No. 1 offense in terms of yards per game, passing yards per game and average yards per play behind quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
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CLEVELAND BROWNS: Mayfield's preparation sealed the deal. One reason the Browns felt comfortable turning to rookie No. 1 overall draft pick Baker Mayfieldas their starting QB is that he has done a "great" job preparing, according to one staff member. That's important because, during training camp, coach Hue Jackson challenged Mayfield to be one of the first in and last out. Mayfield accepted the challenge, and it has shown in his comfort level on the field.
I'm told the Browns feel they can run their entire playbook with Mayfield, whether that's playing tempo or ball control. The Browns knew about his mobility and live arm when they drafted him, but another thing that has impressed them over the weeks is his ability to quickly process information in the moment.
"He has a chance to be a real good progression passer," said one staff member.
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MIAMI DOLPHINS: The guiding hand behind Tannehill's resurgence. The Dolphins are 3-0, and QB Ryan Tannehill is completing a career-high 73 percent of his passes this season, with a 121.8 rating -- that is 28.3 points higher than his previous best for a season. He has thrown seven touchdowns and two interceptions, but he has no giveaways the last two weeks. What's behind his improved play?
Veteran running back Frank Gore points the finger at coach Adam Gase, who stood behind Tannehill even when others did not. Some outsiders wanted the team to draft a QB with its first-round pick this past spring, but Gase was adamant Tannehill was his guy. That kind of backing does wonders for a player, according to Gore.
"It reminds me of Alex Smith when I was in San Francisco," he said. "Jim Harbaugh came in and said, 'Alex is my guy,' even when other people wanted someone else. Alex went on to have great seasons and lead us to the playoffs. It's Gase, man. I'm telling you."
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NEW YORK GIANTS: Brees, Manning bring plenty of mileage to showdown. Now, this is a veteran matchup: Drew Brees, 39, and 37-year-old Eli Manning, whose teams square off Sunday in East Rutherford, have combined to play 471 regular-season games, complete 10,831 passes for 124,005 yards, throw 838 touchdowns, get sacked 754 times and win a combined three Super Bowls, two by Manning.
"I don't know if either of us would've ever predicted that," Brees said.
Manning pointed to the idea that "practices aren't brutal" anymore and improved "arm care" as contributing to longevity: "If you could still keep a strong arm and still keep your joints healthy where you can move around a little bit, you can continue to play."
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NEW YORK JETS: Early-career gauntlet challenging for Darnold.Sam Darnold has weathered a unique first test as a rookie: three games in the first 11 days of his NFL career.
"That was a different challenge that I had to face, but it was awesome getting to play three games in that short amount of time," Darnold said. "It was a growing experience for me."
Darnold was terrific in the season opener, recording a 116.8 passer rating against the Lions. In the two losses since, to Miamiand Cleveland, his rating (59.0) dipped, and he threw four of his five interceptions.
"(He's) not in it by himself. We are in it as a team," coach Todd Bowles said. "Everything he learns from is an experience. He made some good plays. He had some plays that he can learn from, and some plays that he would like to have back. I think he will come out of it fine."
Since 2017, quarterbacks with fewer than 10 career starts are 1-4 against the Jaguars, the Jets' opponent this week.
Darnold reflects on Allen's success. With four rookie quarterbacks (Darnold, the Bills' Josh Allen, the Browns' Baker Mayfield and the Cardinals' Josh Rosen) now starting, Darnold said he and Allen have been in contact. "Not too much though," he said, "because, you know, we're focused on a lot of things. We got a lot on our plate right now."
In the future, there will be plenty of time for texting.
"It's cool that everyone is getting their shot and having different experiences," Darnold said. "I think it's going to be even more cool to look back four, five years from now and see where we are."
Darnold, the third overall pick in the draft, said he and Allen (No. 7 overall) became close during the draft process. After the Bills' upset of the Vikings last week, Darnold said he didn't text Allen because he knew that his phone "was getting blown up."
Allen did get an in-house endorsement from Bills running back LeSean McCoy, who tweeted Sunday (McCoy missed the Vikings game) that Allen is his "favorite player."
On Wednesday, McCoy elaborated: "Like I've said before, I'm not big on rookies. But certain guys, you can see it. ... He wants to compete at a high level, he wants to win, he lays his body out on the line. I'm sure a lot of franchise quarterbacks wouldn't do that, and it's no secret that he's our franchise guy. I love him. Everything is like a learning experience for him, but for the most part, he's just got the natural feel for the game. He's a gamer, so I love that."
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As Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham told me after the game: "He's still Houdini."
No doubt, there was some rust on Wentz, who finished 25-of-37 passing for 255 yards and a touchdown but also threw a bad interception, took five sacks and had a fumbled exchange on first-and-goal, disrupting one of two red-zone drives that ended in field goals on a rainy day in Philadelphia. Plays like Wentz's third-down scramble and dive for the first down in the second quarter are reminders of what made him an MVP candidate before the injury last year.
"He kind of led everyone to believe that he wasn't going to change his game," tight end Zach Ertz told me in our postgame interview on the field. "The guy is an electric player. We need him on third down to scramble if something breaks down. And he does that. He's an amazing quarterback, and we love playing with him."
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SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: Moving on with Beathard at QB. The Niners are refocusing after Jimmy Garoppolo's season-ending ACL injury and are heading to Los Angeles to face the Chargers with C.J. Beathard under center. Several veteran quarterbacks worked out with the team this week, including T.J. Yates, Tom Savage and Kellen Clemens, but no decision has been announced as to who will be added to the roster.
49ers players like linebacker Reuben Foster, running back Kyle Juszczyk and offensive tackle Joe Staley quickly expressed their trust and confidence in Beathard on Sunday after San Francisco's loss to the Chiefs. Kyle Shanahan echoed the same sentiments on Wednesday, saying there was no time to dwell on Jimmy G's injury, that it's about the next man up and that they have full faith in Beathard.
One more injury to watch for: the calf strain suffered by veteran cornerback Richard Sherman. On Thursday, he attributed the injury to the wear and tear of the game and to not taking reps for eight months following his Achilles surgery last season.
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WASHINGTON REDSKINS: Hints of Adrian Peterson's renaissance? Washington appeared to be stepping out on faith in August when it signed veteran running back Adrian Peterson. After all, the 33-year-old was coming off a 2017 season in which he was held to 33 yards rushing or less in seven of 10 games.
However, the move has paid off handsomely for Washington thus far, with Peterson rushing for at least 96 yards in two of his first three games, including a 120-yard, two-touchdown outing in Sunday's win over the Packers. I asked Doug Williams, the team's senior vice president of player personnel, what made him so confident Peterson could still be productive. His answer was succinct:
"We put him through a 30-minute workout, and he wasn't sweating and showed no sign of being tired."
