John Fox insists Mike Glennon still Chicago Bears' starting quarterback

TAMPA, Fla. -- For Chicago Bears quarterback Mike Glennon, it was not a dreamy homecoming.

It was more like a nightmare.

Glennon's Bears were thrashed 29-7 on Sunday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team where he played his first four NFL seasons. Glennon committed three of Chicago's four turnovers, leading to a pair of Tampa Bay touchdowns.

Overall, Glennon was 31 of 45 for 301 yards, numbers that appeared more than respectable. Both Bears head coach John Fox and Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter praised Glennon's persistence in the face of mistakes and several dropped passes.

But that couldn't stop renewed talk of a quarterback controversy in Chicago. After Fox made his opening postgame statement, he was peppered by four consecutive questions about Glennon's status and whether he considered a switch to rookie Mitchell Trubisky, the NFL draft's second overall pick.

Fox reiterated that Glennon is his quarterback.

"We have to get better as a football team," Fox said. "That wasn't the Mike Glennon Bears. That was the Chicago Bears. It was our whole team.

"I haven't looked at all the stats and all the exacts, but there were a lot of people who had their hand in it and we'll leave it at that."

Glennon was asked if he felt a hook was coming Sunday.

His answer was swift.

"No."

Chicago's offensive operation was hampered not only by mistakes, but an inability to run. The Bears rushed for just 20 yards on 16 carries (1.3-yard average) after rushing for 125 yards last week against the Atlanta Falcons. The mounting deficit kept Glennon in obvious passing situations.

"I think Mike Glennon played pretty well today," Koetter said. "He put the ball on the money. I don't know how many drops they had."

Glennon tried to look at the positives.

"Just keep fighting," he said. "Next play, it starts with one completion and we will go from there.

"I don't think our guys gave up. Our offensive line did a really good job in that situation, when they know we're passing on every play. Our guys fought and it was good to see."

Ultimately, Glennon put most of the blame on himself.

"Obviously, this is not what I envisioned or hoped," Glennon said. "Ultimately, it shows how precious taking care of the football is. Four turnovers in the first half is not going to win many football games.

"Three of those fall on me. Ultimately, I have to do a better job taking care of the football and giving us a chance to win."