The Bears were one of two teams to skip on Johnny Manziel’s pro day workout yesterday, along with the Browns.
But while Cleveland’s playing a weird game of keep away with the quarterback prospects, the Bears simply don’t have a need for a first-round quarterback.
But coach Marc Trestman is looking for another passer after losing veteran Josh McCown, and he has a very specific checklist when looking for one.
“The No. 1 job of the No. 2 quarterback is to be ready to play and to play well,” Trestman said, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. “He has to, . . . the best term is he has to go in and play efficiently. He can’t turn the ball over. He’s got to live for the next play. . . .
“But he’s a very, very important part of your locker room. Because he has to be ready to play efficiently and he’s not going to get the reps to do it. That was the No. 1 value of Josh. It still has to go to his ability to play the game if the No. 1 guy is hurt.”
At the moment, the Bears have Jordan Palmer behind started Jay Cutler, though they’re continuing to see if anything falls out of the tree now that the free agent market is picked over. But Palmer hasn’t thrown a pass in the league since 2010, so the chance of an upgrade is possible. And whoever it is has to be ready to buy into the philosophies of the quarterback whisperer.
“He has to be extremely good in the meeting room,” Trestman said. “Because that meeting room is the most important office in that building. Everything is controlled by the energy in that room and the camaraderie in that room and the karma in that room. So he has to be that guy. That’s really the most important thing. And if he’s doing that, he’s certainly going to be good in the locker room. The guys in that meeting room, in my opinion, have to be locker room guys. They have to be leaders. So that’s what we’re looking for.”
It’s an unorthodox list, but Trestman is an unorthodox coach. But the success he had with Cutler and McCown last year makes it worth giving him the benefit of the doubt on this one.