When the Chicago Bears traded a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Nick Foles in March, there was an expectation that the former Super Bowl MVP would surpass incumbent Mitchell Trubisky for the starting gig by the time the Bears opened up their 2020 season.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit immediately after the trade, leading to an abbreviated offseason and canceled preseason—and possibly placing Foles at an unforeseen disadvantage.

On Monday, six days before the Bears face the Detroit Lions in Week 1, head coach Matt Nagy officially named Trubisky as the team’s starting quarterback, relegating Foles to backup duties—at least for now.

Despite the truncated program, Foles felt like he had a strong showing in camp and seemed a bit surprised when Nagy informed him of the decision on Sunday, but pledged to do his part to help Trubisky and the team succeed:

“I’ve just learned to embrace it the best I can through the ups and downs, so whatever wisdom I can give [Trubisky] as it pertains to the emotions of the game, as it pertains to the plays going into the game, the philosophy, the thought process, how you do third downs, how I think during games…I look forward to helping him in any way possible,” Foles told the team’s website.

Despite the truncated offseason camp, Foles “felt like it was pretty even throughout the whole thing,” speaking of the QB competition:

“We gave each other a great battle, and it was a healthy environment. Going into the conversation, I honestly had no idea which direction it was going to go, and I think that just says a lot about how we went out there and executed what the coaches wanted us to execute.”

Nagy praised both quarterbacks for their performance in camp, and Foles for his effort in a weird situation:

“I also want to give a lot of credit to Nick Foles for coming in here under strange circumstances,” Nagy said. “He's had an interesting career in coming off of last year with an injury, he comes in with no offseason…and really a shortened training camp. So, these guys battled, and neither one of them complained. They just did what they were supposed to do.”

Foles acknowledged his training camp performance wasn't perfect:

“Felt like there was a lot of solid play based on what the coaches were wanting from the offense at the time, and we are the only ones that know that. But at the same time, I respect coach Nagy's decision.”

Nagy lauded Foles for his classy reaction to the news, which was to give Trubisky a personal call of congratulations:

“It's not easy when you're competitive, and one person has to get named the starter,” said Nagy. “But Nick ended his conversation…with, ‘Can I call Mitch and congratulate him?' And if that doesn't speak to who he is as a human being, I think there is some realness that you all need to understand what kind of guy he is.”

Of course, Foles has experience thriving in a backup role. As you may recall, he led the Philadelphia Eagles to victory in Super Bowl LII after replacing injured started Carson Wentz midseason.