As Bears return from bye week, uncertainty remains
Bears head coach Matt Nagy didn't provide any updates on his team's quarterback situation heading into this week's game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
The Bears returned to practice Monday after four days away from the facility during their bye week. While both quarterbacks deal with injuries, the team is not required to release an injury report until Wednesday. Nagy said Monday's practice was short. Players did not wear pads.
Nagy said the health of both his quarterbacks remains a top priority. Nick Foles suffered a hip injury in the Bears' last game on Nov. 16. Mitch Trubisky has been out with a shoulder injury since Nov. 1.
Nagy had previously said that, regardless of health, everything is on the table - even going back to Trubisky at quarterback. The Bears need to do something to shake their current four-game losing streak.
"We're kind of working through [it], right now, to see exactly where they're at," Nagy said. "The good thing for us coming off the bye is [Foles' injury] happened [before] the bye, and now we're able to, day by day, just see where he's at."
Foles suffered the injury in the final minute against the Vikings on Nov. 16. The training staff drove him off the field on a cart. The next day, Nagy said the injury wasn't as bad as initially feared, and that Foles would likely avoid going on injured reserve.
The Bears were without running back David Montgomery (concussion) in the loss to the Vikings. They also played part of the second half without defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (hamstring). The team will have a better indication of where both those guys stand as the week progresses.
For players and coaches, the bye was a chance to step away and regroup before the final six games. Nagy and the coaching staff wanted to use this extended layoff to do some self-evaluating. He said Monday that the Bears' struggle to run the football is where a lot of their offensive issues start.
"You just see teams across the league that are able to establish the run, it helps open up other areas of the field," Nagy said. "At the same point in time, I'd say with the passing game - whether it's pass protection, whether it's routes and details of the routes - it's really all of that coming together at the same time."
The Bears will have a lot to figure out over the next few days before heading to Lambeau Field. If they can somehow find a way to generate points these last six weeks, the Bears have a favorable enough schedule to reach the postseason. Other than two games against the Packers, the Bears face four teams with losing records.
Veteran receiver Allen Robinson said Monday that the Bears have the talent to make something happen.
"With Darnell Mooney, Anthony Miller, myself, Jimmy Graham, we've got the guys," Robinson said. "We've got the talent to be able to do it. We've just got to execute, and we've got to execute when those times come."
Robinson said it wouldn't be a difficult transition if the Bears did go back to Trubisky at quarterback. Trubisky already has experience with the receivers on the roster. They would just need to fine tune things in practice.
"I don't think it's rocket science," Robinson said. "It would just be me going out there, being myself, trying to make the quarterback's job easy."