Smith holdout taking focus off Trubisky

BOURBONNAIS - Why is Roquan Smith's contract the only thing anyone in Bears Nation can talk about right now?

The dam broke Saturday when head coach Matt Nagy confirmed that at least part of the stalemate between Smith and the Chicago Bears revolved around language related to the league's new helmet rules, and by Monday everyone was taking sides and arguing whether the Bears or Smith and his reps are more to blame.

First, how dumb is it when the facts are that nobody but the Bears and Smith and his reps claim to have seen or know what the exact language the two sides are arguing over really is? But, second, everybody has an opinion on who's right and who's wrong?

More important, we all know in a couple of weeks - or quite possibly a couple of hours - this is all going to be resolved, no one will care who was right or wrong, and Smith is going to be starting at one of the inside linebacker spots.

But what almost certainly will have the biggest impact of anything on the 2018 Bears is the development of second-year quarterback, Mitch Trubisky, and those who are paying attention have noticed that Trubisky isn't exactly tearing it up in camp so far.

Let me be crystal clear, Trubisky isn't having a bad camp. It is impossible to form any lasting conclusions off what we've seen so far, and it will be at least three or four more weeks before we have any educated guesses as to what to expect from the kid this year.

But I strongly suspect were it not for Roquan-mania we'd be hearing and reading a lot more about how "uninspiring" Trubisky has been through the first nine practices.

You probably have heard that Trubisky has thrown a lot of picks so far in practice, in response to which Nagy has done his best Alfred E. Neuman, "What, me worry."

Nagy insists the volume of interceptions has been almost intentional as he is encouraging Trubisky to test his limits and learn from his mistakes.

Accepting that completely, I asked Nagy on Monday, forgetting about the picks, how do you feel about Mitch physically - arm strength, mechanics, athleticism, etc.

And this is what he told me: "He's having a really good camp. I'm not disappointed at all with the picks, I've said that from Day One."

Maybe coach didn't hear me properly, or maybe there are other explanations, but after I specifically gave him a pass on the picks and asked about tools, why did he go right back after the interceptions and not answer the question I asked?

Asked if he agreed with Nagy and backup quarterback Chase Daniel that Trubisky has been exceptional in how quickly and completely he's absorbing the new offense, offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich responded, "He has, yeah. There's obviously (he) turned the ball over too much.

"Some of that has been his fault. Some of it not, which is usually the case, but the quarterback gets the blame. So we'll get it fixed."

Uncertain as to why both of Trubisky's chief mentors are seemingly so focused on the interceptions they keep insisting are not a concern, I asked Helfrich, who just met the quarterback a few months ago, how he would evaluate the physical tools.

"There's nothing, you know, there's nothing as far as tick the box that he doesn't have," Helfrich said. "But, yeah, he's got a great release, he sees things pretty well and that's the thing probably, if he has anything to (work on), just processing why we're doing A, B, and C that's ongoing."

I have no doubt Helfrich is right, and I think Trubisky does have "it."

Nagy's and Helfrich's plan for the young quarterback is fine for now, and nobody is going to complain at least for a while.

But Smith will be here soon. Once he is, all the focus with definitely shift to Trubisky, and if the kid isn't doing more then that he is right now, the real debate will start.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.