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Chicago Bears head coach John Fox left in dark on surprising Mitchell Trubisky selection

By The Sports Xchange
Chicago Bears head coach John Fox speaks during a press conference. File photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
Chicago Bears head coach John Fox speaks during a press conference. File photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

The Chicago Bears pulled off the most stunning move of Thursday night's first round of the NFL Draft by trading up for the No. 2 overall pick to select Mitchell Trubisky.

Apparently, the plan to target the North Carolina quarterback was news to coach John Fox as well.

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According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Bears general manager Ryan Pace kept his intentions to himself and didn't notify Fox until shortly before the draft began.

Pace put forth a different spin when meeting with reporters shortly after the Bears traded two 2017 picks (a third and a fourth) and a 2018 third-rounder to the San Francisco 49ers to move up just one spot.

"John and I are arm-and-arm in all these decisions. So we talked about this thoroughly, and we're connected on this," Pace told reporters. "John is just as excited as I am. So when you have an opportunity to get a quarterback of this caliber, you can't pass on it. So we're good."

In fact, Trubisky also had no clue the Bears were interested in his services. He said he met with the team at the NFL Combine and again at North Carolina's Pro Day. Otherwise, there was no contact.

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"It was just pretty much silence," Trubisky said. "That's why I'm surprised to hear my name called because we didn't have a lot of contact. I just think they ... were impressed with me at the combine and my workout.

"But yeah, I haven't had a whole lot of contact with them so that makes it so much more exciting."

Trubisky started just one season at North Carolina but set school single-season records for passing yardage (3,748) and touchdown passes (30) last season. He also completed 68 percent of his passes and was intercepted just six times.

Still, the Bears didn't seem to be a possible landing spot after free agent Mike Glennon received a three-year, $45 million deal to replace Jay Cutler as the franchise's quarterback.

Pace's view was that adding a talent like Trubisky was too good to pass up.

"If we want to be great, you just can't sit on your hands," Pace said. "There are times when you've got to be aggressive, and when you have conviction on a guy, you can't sit on your hands.

"I just don't want to be average around here -- I want to be great. And these are the moves you have to make."

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