Chicago Bears veteran quarterback Nick Foles returned to practice Wednesday. It was the first time Foles has practiced with the team since he sustained a hip pointer and deep glute bruise Week 10 in the Bears’ 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears listed Foles as a limited participant in practice. He was one of two limited participants along with offensive lineman Germain Ifedi.
Veterans Jimmy Graham, Buster Skrine and Danny Trevathan did not practice, which is the norm, as they were taking their usual weekly veteran rest day. Starting offensive lineman Charles Leno Jr. also sat out with the toe injury he was nursing all last week, but the biggest addition to the injury report was on defense.
The Bears could be without Akiem Hicks again, and Khalil Mack also didn’t practice at all due to a back injury. Mack has been placed on the injury report this season far more than he was last year, and he has yet to miss a game, but it’s always concerning when your star pass rusher misses practice entirely.
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Defensive Lineman Akiem Hicks is ‘Day-to-Day’
Bears head coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday that Hicks, the heart and soul of the team’s defense and their best run stopper with Eddie Goldman gone, is getting better, and is considered day-to-day. “I’m hoping that he’ll be able to go,” Nagy said about the possibility of Hick playing this Sunday when Chicago takes on the Detroit Lions.
The Bears missed Hicks’ presence sorely in their Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers, allowing 182 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry. Chicago also didn’t record a sack or quarterback hit in the game, so they would really like to have him available despite his status currently being uncertain.
Chicago did see one key player return to practice Wednesday, and that’s Foles — but he won’t be playing this week unless Mitch Trubisky suffers an injury.
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Trubisky Named Starter Week 13 vs Lions
Nagy confirmed that despite Foles’ return, it will be Trubisky starting for the Bears this Sunday against Detroit. Trubisky has played his best ball agains the Lions, going 4-0 against them since 2018, while throwing for 1,601 yards, 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions with a 106.0 quarterback rating.
When he spoke to the media Wednesday, Trubisky noted he expected more of the same man-to-man defense he has seen over the last two years courtesy of Detroit.
“I think you have to expect that because that’s who they are and that’s what they’ve done for the last 11 weeks but you gotta expect the unexpected with the new coach being in there,” Trubisky said Wednesday. “They might throw some different looks at us so for us it’s just worrying about what we’re doing on the offensive side of the ball, being in the right place at the right time, executing our plays, trying to take another step forward from last week, and obviously my focus is ball security and taking care of the football. But yeah, you gotta expect the unexpected but that’s who they’ve been the last 11 weeks so to change during a week, we’ll see, but you gotta be ready for it.”
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Multiple Bears Starters Miss Practice as Key Player Returns