As the Bears turn the corner and leave the bye week in the past, Head Coach Matt Nagy offers updates on some key, injured players.
During his weekly appearance with Josh Liss of WBBM Newsradio, Nagy shared news about quarterback Mitch Trubisky, right guard Kyle Long, and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks.
Nagy expressed hope Trubisky would return for Week 7 when discussing the matter early last week. That hope that was likely bolstered by news of backup quarterback Tyler Bray’s return to the practice squad. And in his first public comments since last week, Nagy continued to show he was upbeat about progress being made.
“We’ll see how it goes here this week, but we’re excited for him,” Nagy said. “Every day helps us out … we’ll see where it ends up going.”
Nagy mentioned how Trubisky was working every day to get his non-throwing shoulder strong enough to play in Week 7, but his playing status will be determined by how he feels after practicing this week.
Unfortunately, Nagy didn’t have the same sense of hopefulness when discussing Hicks and Long.
Nagy confirmed Long is headed to injured reserve, which could keep him out anywhere between eight weeks or the rest of the season. And while Nagy credited Long for trying to tough it out, the time had come to make a difficult decision.
“That’s where it’s at and we want to credit him for battling through an injury,” Nagy said. “It is a tough loss, but it’s a part of the game. We understand that, he understands it, and we’ve just got to keep plugging away.”
The Bears will also find themselves plugging away without a Pro Bowl defensive lineman, as it sounds like Hicks will be out for a while. Nagy said the Bears were “still working through all the logistics” when it came to Hicks’ elbow injury, which sounds like a recovery timetable and a possible return won’t be on the radar for the near future.
“We’re hoping he’s definitely able to return here by the season’s end, and find out where that’s at, that’s our goal,” Nagy said.
You can listen to Nagy’s full interview here: