It's no secret that Mitch Trubisky is off to a shaky start in 2019. He has the second-lowest quarterback rating through two games, ahead of only Miami's Ryan Fitzpatrick, according to NFL's Next Gen stats.
Week 3's Monday night matchup against the Redskins should produce better results because of how bad the Redskins defense has looked so far this season, but it'll take more than just a favorable opponent for Trubisky to improve. According to Pro Football Focus, he has to do a better job reading through his progressions.
To be clear, Trubisky has struggled all over the PFF spectrum. But what really sticks out is his play while reading through his progressions. His 29.9 passing grade on second-read throws — throws made after the QB has clearly moved his eyes to his next receiver — is dead last in the NFL, and he has completed fewer than 50% of his attempts in those situations. His four turnover-worthy passes rank second-most since the start of 2018, and he owns the NFL’s fourth-lowest adjusted completion percentage on his second reads.
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This is not what Matt Nagy nor Ryan Pace expected from Trubisky, who's now in his second season operating Nagy's offense. But this isn't particularly surprising, either. Trubisky got off to a slow start in 2018 before ramping up his production in Week 4's six-touchdown effort against the Buccaneers.
While expecting another game from Trubisky like the one he enjoyed against Tampa Bay would be a bit unreasonable, an uptick in his play is anticipated Monday night. And if he can produce results after looking off his first and second options, then there will be more than enough reasons to be optimistic about his ability to turn his season around.