NEWSLETTER
Nearly all signs are pointing toward Mitch Trubisky’s return to the Bears’ starting lineup on Sunday against the Saints.
Trubisky is expected to be a full participant in practice, tweets Larry Mayer. Practicing without restrictions would be a good development for a quarterback who is a little more than two weeks removed from suffering a shoulder injury that knocked him out early in the team’s Week 4 win against the Vikings and kept him out of action altogether in Week 5.
And for what it’s worth, Trubisky sounded like someone ready to give it a full-go in practice:
Trubisky says he "feels close" to 100% and looks forward to showing in practice this week that he's ready to go on Sunday.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 16, 2019
Trubisky also added he will wear a shoulder brace/harness in practice (and likely in games), but this is an overall sign of progress regarding QB1’s health status.
And yet, Head Coach Matt Nagy isn’t 100 percent committed to naming Trubisky the starter for Week 7:
Matt Nagy is "cautiously optimistic” Trubisky will play this week. "I feel good about it, but we’re preparing with both.” Added that there is a balancing act with the QB reps this week. #Bears
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 16, 2019
Nagy expressed a sense of cautious optimism surrounding Trubisky’s return, but came short of clearly calling him the starter. So much so, he hinted that backup Chase Daniel would would get first-team reps in practice throughout the week. Even still … the majority of the arrows are pointing toward Trubisky getting back on the field on Sunday. At this point, it feels as if only an unforeseen setback would keep Trubisky from re-take his role as starter.
There is no denying Trubisky is off to a slow start, but his athleticism and off-the-cuff play-making ability was missed late in the Bears’ loss to the Raiders in Week 5. If Trubisky is truly healthy, then he can resume his development as a third-year quarterback and do his part in putting the Bears back on the winning track. After all, they’ll need Trubisky to play to his potential if a second consecutive playoff appearance is going to be in the cards this winter.
