New Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo is looking for a little “juice,” from his starter, whenever and whomever that might be.
Via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, DeFilippo said that quality included “passion, energy and swagger, baby,” while taking control of a team.
“It means we have a passion for the game. We have a ton of energy,” DeFilippo said. “We’re the same people every day. But then we walk around with a little bit of swagger to ourselves in terms of knowing we’re the best quarterback room in the National Football League.
“And that doesn’t mean we go around and are cocky and arrogant. That just means we have a swagger about ourselves that the only [way we can be] beat is if we beat ourselves.”
The Bears shuffled the offensive staff this offseason, with new coordinator Bill Lazor and DeFilippo joining head coach Matt Nagy. They’ll oversee the competition between incumbent Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles (who DeFilippo worked with last year in Jacksonville), which will be played out in what will likely be a truncated preseason.
But before that happens, DeFilippo said Trubisky needed a bit of a pause.
“I told him he needed to get away, man,” DeFilippo said. “I said, ‘Bro, you had a rough season. Like from a mental standpoint. [From a] physical standpoint, you’ve got a shoulder you need to rehab. But you need to go clear your mind for a few weeks.’
“Sometimes you have to steer young guys into that realm as well.”
And if Trubisky doesn’t find his “juice” in the time off ahead of him, the Bears will be forced to make the change from the former second overall pick.