Mitch Trubisky Injury: When Will Bears QB Return to Play?

Getty Mitch Trubisky is expected to miss the Bears Thanksgiving game as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

Mitch Trubisky was moved from questionable to doubtful for the final injury report on the eve of the Bears-Lions Thanksgiving matchup as the quarterback recovers from a shoulder injury. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport described Trubisky’s injury as a bruised shoulder and noted he would likely have played if the Bears’ game were on Sunday instead of Thursday.

“For Thursday’s #Bears-#Lions game, it’s more likely that QB Chase Daniel starts than Mitch Trubisky, sources say. Trubisky is dealing with a shoulder bruise and if it was a Sunday game, he’d probably play. But now, Daniel is slated to go,” Rapoport tweeted.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Trubisky woke up more sore than expected on Wednesday morning and described the injury as a sprained AC joint. Schefter reported Trubisky is likely to play in Week 13 against the Giants.

“Mitchell Trubisky woke up sore today and with less movement in his shoulder than expected, making it likely Chase Daniel will start Thanksgiving Day vs Lions, per source. Bears could activate QB Tyler Bray today to backup Daniel, with possibility that Trubisky now will not dress…Mitchell Trubisky is nursing a sprained AC joint, per source. If Thursday’s game were Sunday, the Bears believe Trubisky could play and they believe he’ll be ready a week from Sunday against the NY Giants,” Schefter tweeted.

Mitch Trubisky Is Expected to Play in Week 13 Against the Giants

Earlier this week, Bears head coach Matt Nagy noted he was “cautiously optimistic” that Trubisky would play in Week 12. Nagy noted Trubisky wanted to play, but the team is trying to be cautious when it comes to their quarterback.

“He wants to play,” Nagy told the Chicago Tribune. “I know that. But we’ve got to make sure in these situations that we’re doing the right thing.”

Nagy also expressed a lot of faith in backup quarterback Chase Daniel and his ability to run the offense in Trubisky’s absence.

“The No. 1 thing that you learn about Chase when you’re around him is that — in a really good way — he’s extremely confident in how he plays because he’s so smart,” Nagy explained to the Chicago Tribune. “The game is not fast to him when he plays. The other thing with Chase that I’ve always appreciated is the fact that he prepares every game like he’s the starter. If his time does come, he doesn’t blink.”

Trubisky has been known to use his legs to hurt defenses, and it appeared the quarterback hurt his shoulder after he attempted to slide to avoid contact against the Vikings. Nagy is not concerned about his quarterback’s sliding ability.

“He’s good at (sliding),” Nagy told The Athletic. “Because he’s running more often than others, there’s different times that he slides and different ways that he slides. I’ve been around some bad sliders, including Michael Vick, and he’d laugh at it. He couldn’t slide to save his life. We used to go out and put the slip n’ slide out after practice and try to teach him and he couldn’t do it. Then you’ve got these baseball players that have played baseball in high school that know how to do it.”