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Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said recently that he hopes the experience he gained while starting 12 games last season will help him be a more effective player in his second NFL campaign.

One member of the Bears thinks that experience is paying off in one way already. Running back Jordan Howard said that Trubisky’s ascension to the starting job and his time leading the team has given him a firmer hold over his teammates than he enjoyed last year.

“He asserted himself a lot last year, but I definitely feel like a lot more people are listening to him,” Howard said, via the team’s website. “He has a lot greater command of the locker room and stuff because he’s the quarterback for sure now.”

The Bears have built out the offense around Trubisky, Howard and Tarik Cohen this offseason by adding to the receiving corps and hiring Matt Nagy as their new head coach. Better results are expected to follow those moves and realizing that goal will only make it clearer that the Bears are Trubisky’s team for years to come.