LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Mitchell Trubisky‘s return to Halas Hall largely came without fanfare. The former Chicago Bears quarterback — now Buffalo Bills backup — entered joint practices between the teams last week from the makeshift locker room in the Walter Payton Center, where he had done plenty of work.
Trubisky went through quarterback drills and shared second-team reps with fellow Bills backup QB Mike White, throwing touchdown passes and a couple of incompletions. The memories returned, along with feelings of nostalgia. Before and after practice, Trubisky greeted former teammates and staff members from his time in Chicago. He also answered questions from local media.
The No. 2 pick in 2017 is entering his ninth NFL season, competing for the backup role behind reigning MVP Josh Allen. The posters around Bears training camp showcase the latest Bears first-round quarterback in Caleb Williams, who is under the same kind of pressure Trubisky faced going into his second season in 2018. Despite the stress, Trubisky says he wishes that time had lasted longer.
“It’s a privilege and I miss that, and it’s a lot of fun to be the franchise guy, especially in a city like this,” Trubisky said after practice. Returning to the place he was drafted, still playing in the league, is something he described as “exciting and scary at the same time.”
Trubisky’s goal remains to be a starting quarterback. Despite his tenure not working out as the Bears’ franchise quarterback, Trubisky’s return to Chicago for joint practices and a preseason game (8 p.m. ET, Sunday, Fox) brings back happy memories and is a reminder of what he still wants to accomplish in his career.
“That’s tough sometimes, I think, cause you always want to stay in the moment and take it day by day, but, I mean, the long-term goal is definitely to be a starter and a franchise guy somewhere again,” Trubisky told ESPN. “I think if you have that mindset and strive for that, but also take it one day at a time, everything else will kind of take care of itself in the meantime.”
There were positives in Chicago. In 2018, the Bears went 12-4, won the NFC North, and Trubisky threw 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Though the Bears made the playoffs again in 2020, the team had back-to-back 8-8 seasons in 2019 and 2020, and in a struggling offense, Trubisky’s QBR dropped from 71 in 2018 to an average of 45.8 in the next two seasons.
Trubisky said that because of all the turnover in Chicago — two head coaches fired since he left in 2020 and two more first-round quarterbacks drafted — there are only three players on the current Bears roster whom he played with (tight end Cole Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and kicker Cairo Santos).
Trubisky, who became a free agent after the Bears declined his fifth-year option, played his first stint with the Bills in 2021 as Allen’s backup. That year, Trubisky had a standout preseason performance in Chicago, leading the offense to four touchdown drives in its first four possessions.
Trubisky, 30, then spent 2022 and 2023 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning the starting job out of camp in 2022 but eventually becoming the backup to Kenny Pickett. Trubisky’s time there ended in what he called a “good mutual breakup.” Last offseason, he returned to Buffalo, signing a two-year deal in a backup role.
Trubisky has enjoyed the camaraderie specific to the Bills, who often spend time together away from the facility, living near each other in Orchard Park, New York.
“I think it’s just the culture that they’ve built here,” Trubisky said. “The type of guys we bring into the team and the families.”
Trubisky and White, who signed with the team before the 2024 regular season and then re-signed in January, have been battling for the backup QB role. The team usually keeps only one backup on the active 53-man roster. The QB group consists of Allen, Trubisky, White and Shane Buechele, a former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback who has been with the Bills since August 2023.
“If you walked in that [quarterback] room, you couldn’t tell if it was training camp, we’re in a battle, or if it was frickin’ Week 2 of last year,” White told ESPN. “It’s such an enjoyable room to go into.”
As training camp began, general manager Brandon Beane expressed a lot of support for Trubisky.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in Mitch. We really do,” Beane said. “I know people will maybe mention Mike went [with the second-team offense]. Ultimately, we want as much competition as we can. We want to get as many people as many opportunities as we can, but at the same time, Mitch has been here two full seasons with us if you go back to 2021. If Josh went down in a game, we were very confident last year. If he went down now, we’d be very confident in Mitch.”
White and Trubisky are getting opportunities with the second-team offense. Trubisky started the first 2025 preseason game against the New York Giants, finishing 9-of-13 for 138 yards and 1 touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox.
The backup to Allen doesn’t play often, as the reigning MVP has not missed a game since his rookie season.
“No matter how many reps I get, I’m focused on making the reps I get the best as possible so I can continue and improve my game and continue to stay ready,” Trubisky said.
Trubisky said that he is focusing on his accuracy and ball placement. Allen and White noted Trubisky’s consistency.
“Mitch is, every day he’s the same exact guy,” Allen said. “He knows who he is. He works extremely hard. He’s doing everything he can right now to continue to improve. I love him and I love all the quarterbacks in our room.”
Bills center Connor McGovern met Trubisky in 2014 during a campus visit at UNC before McGovern chose Penn State. McGovern said that Trubisky sees the game differently than Allen, even receiving snaps in a unique way, and that Trubisky gives him a bit more control. Trubisky noted his increased comfort with coordinator Joe Brady’s offense and the line this season.
“[Trubisky was here in 2021, so] he knows a lot of the why for some of the stuff that was consistent from before, that a guy like Mike White and Shane [Buechele] don’t,” Brady said.
“Mitch’s athleticism is incredible in there. He has great command. He’s played a lot a meaningful football. … I love Mitch. I love his approach [of] how he does everything … and there’s a reason we obviously have him here.”
Securing the backup role is the next step for Trubisky in his goal of being a starter again. Even in returning to Chicago, Trubisky will remember the “nostalgic good times,” but the focus remains on football.
“[It’s] fun to go get some food, hang out with the guys, take care of business, see some old friends, and just interact with the fans a little bit because, like I said, they’ve been really nice to my family and I since I left,” Trubisky said.
“And I think the dream is one day to just go back and take my son to a game there and be like, ‘Hey, this is the first place that your dad played,’ along with all the other stadiums that we’ve been to. So, I think having memories like that would be special.”
