Matt Nagy Sees Real Progress in Mitchell Trubisky
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy can't be certain quarterback Mitchell Trubisky will be far enough past a hip pointer to play against the New York Giants Sunday, but is quite certain of something else.
Nagy believes Trubisky has shown recent improvement in his play even if statistics indicate little has changed.
"Throughout the course of time you have injuries and things that go on," Nagy said Wednesday at Halas Hall. "But I'll say this: The last two weeks, and I'm speaking in particular for Mitch, he has without a doubt gotten a lot better at the quarterback position.
"Decision-making, throws, where he's at the last two weeks has been a lot better."
Trubisky is coming off a 17-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams when he went 24 of 43 for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception. In the previous game, a 23-16 win over the Lions, he went 16 of 23 for 173 yards and three TDs. His passer rating for the two games is 89.4, and for the year is 82.2.
Trubisky went through a full practice Wednesday and the Bears are hoping his hip pointer improves more through the week of work.
"I want to be able to tell you he's going to go out there, he's going to have a great practice and we're going to be ready to start him this weekend," Nagy said. "That's what I want."
It's only a wish at this point, however, due to the injury Trubisky said made his whole body tighter by the fourth quarter of Sunday's game.
"I should have done a better job in the second half trying to keep it loose on the sidelines," Trubisky said. "Sitting down, it was just uncomfortable and made it tighter. So that didn’t help. The flight home was just miserable because of the whole experience and not finishing the game and not coming away with the win.
"So I’m just looking forward to next week and getting better one day at a time, trying to correct those things, get on the right foot with the team, start heading in a positive direction and make things better."
He described the injury in all its unpleasant splendor.
“So it's like getting a Charley Horse or a dead leg on the quad, except it's above that area," Trubisky said. "It just makes your whole body tight running and then obviously throwing when you got to pull your right hip through. That motion, it just doesn't feel comfortable."
While the Bears try to get Trubisky comfortable, they're happy they have backup Chase Daniel just in case.
"The good thing is we've played a lot with both our quarterbacks," wide receiver Allen Robinson said.
Daniel played against the Vikings in a win and Raiders in a loss this season, and against the Giants in a loss and Lions in a win last year.
"I mean, the beauty with Chase is that he's always mentally and physically ready, so I know I have that in my back pocket if we need it," Nagy said.
The Bears haven't been mathematically eliminated, but trail Minnesota in the wild card chase by three games in the loss column with seven games left.
Nagy said there has been no thought given to shutting Trubisky down for the season as a result of injuries or the team's low placement.
"Really for us, where were at, we need to see where he’s at, where our offense is at and continue to just keep rolling," Nagy said. "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."
Mental state of mind seemed a thing to consider after the game Sunday, when Trubisky seemed completely downtrodden during his postgame press conference.
"First of all, it's right after the game," Nagy said. "It's very emotional. Then, you're getting into a point where you want to be out there and you want to be playing. He's a fighter. He wants to be out there with his teammates. So, there's a lot of things going through his head at that point."
Trubisky on Wednesday was much more upbeat, joked with media and essentially agreed with Nagy's assessment that there has been improvement the last two weeks.
"I feel confident going out there and being able to do my job," Trubisky said. "We're still just not clicking on some plays as an offense and I feel like that's holding us back. But each week it's getting a little bit better."
He agrees with the assessment of Nagy that the whole game is slowing down for him now, even if there are plenty of doubters.
"It's slowing down, I love the game plans we're doing each and every single week," Trubisky said. "We just got to make it happen as an offense, and it just comes down to—I know it sounds really simple—we just got to score more points. However it is, score more points, make more explosive plays and take care of the football.
"So it's really not complicated. I feel like I have been progressing and got to keep doing so. Can't let this thing (injury) hold me back in any way."
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
