Injured Bears quarterback Trubisky gets in full practice
Bears coach Matt Nagy on Wednesday reiterated his plan to stick with injured Mitch Trubisky as his starter as long as Trubisky is healthy enough to play.
The embattled quarterback took a significant step toward that shared goal by practicing in full as the week of preparations began for Sunday's home gane against the New York Giants.
Nagy also was careful to point out the fluid nature of recovering from a hip pointer such as the one Trubisky suffered on his right side in Sunday night's road loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“Really for us, where we're at, we need to see where he's at, where our offense is at and continue to just keep rolling,” Nagy said Wednesday before Trubisky and right tackle Bobby Massie (back) were listed as full participants on the week's first injury report.
“We want him to be out there at practice. We want him to be out there this week as the starter. I'm hoping that's the case.
“I just don't like these types of injuries. You get to a point where they are literally day to day, and it becomes about where you're at with the pain and how we manage that.”
The Bears' 28th-ranked scoring offense is anything but rolling right now, but Nagy, when pressed on whether Trubisky still gives the 4-6 Bears the best chance to win, said adamantly that his starter has “without a doubt gotten a lot better at the quarterback position” in the past two games.
Following his 3-touchdown effort in the victory over the lowly Detroit Lions' defense two weeks ago, Trubisky completed only 24 of 43 passes for 190 yards — including a touchdown and an interception — for a 65.1 rating against the Rams.
However, the interception, Nagy said Wednesday, was fully on wide receiver Anthony Miller, whose route was two yards too deep, throwing off the timing of the play.
“Mitch did everything exactly how we teach it,” Nagy said. “He threw it on time. He threw it to the right spot.”
After a postgame news conference as sullen as we've seen from Trubisky, his mood Wednesday was markedly more upbeat and confident, and he shared his coach's assessment — however opposed it may be outside of Halas Hall — that his recent play is unequivocally trending upward.
“I feel like I have been progressing and got to keep doing so,” Trubisky said. “Can't let this thing hold me back in any way. So just continue to stay positive, work through this, go out on the field, play with confidence and let it loose — and just keep finding ways to get better and put points on the board for the offense and take pressure off our defense.”
Whether Trubisky can have the last laugh after what has been mostly a nightmarish third season remains to be seen, but he did end his media session Wednesday with a joke.
Asked whether he felt compelled to meet the media following the depressed and beaten-down feeling he conveyed Sunday after the game, Trubisky said, “I think I have to. My guys know where I'm at. So I guess me being up here is just for you guys. … They know I'll be all right.”
• @ArthurArkush is managing editor of Pro Football Weekly.