Bears coach Matt Nagy said Tuesday that quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is day-to-day with a right shoulder injury he suffered late in Sunday night's win over the Vikings.
The second-year pro would not have practiced Monday if the Bears had held a workout and is not expected to participate in the team's only practice of the week Tuesday.
In terms of whether Trubisky will be able to start Thursday's Thanksgiving game against the Lions in Detroit, Nagy said that he's "cautiously optimistic, but I can't make any promises."
"I hope he does," said the Bears coach. "But it's a day-to-day thing for us. He wants to play, I know that. But we've got to make sure in these situations that we're doing the right thing."
Trubisky was injured when he was hit by Vikings safety Harrison Smith at the end of a five-yard run with 3:06 left in Sunday night's game. Smith drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the play, hitting Trubisky in the left shoulder and driving his right shoulder into the ground.
Nagy is confident there will be no long-time issues with Trubisky's injury and the quarterback won't need surgery. The Bears will deal with Trubisky with caution, just as they did when outside linebacker Khalil Mack and receiver Allen Robinson II were recently injured.
Trubisky has not missed a game since becoming the Bears' No. 1 quarterback in Week 5 of last season, starting the last 12 contests last year and the first 10 this season.
This year he has helped lead the Bears to a 7-3 record and first place in the NFC North. Trubisky has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 2,469 yards with 20 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 97.7 passer rating. He has also rushed for 363 yards, the most by any NFL quarterback.
If Trubisky is unable to start Thursday in Detroit, he'd be replaced by backup Chase Daniel, a nine-year veteran who spent three seasons with the Chiefs from 2013-15 when Nagy was Kansas City's quarterbacks coach.
"Chase and I have a coach-player relationship going back three years in Kansas City," Nagy said. "I know Chase inside-out; he knows me inside-out. If that's the route we go, we keep plugging away and that's just part of football. If not, then it's nice to know we've got Chase.
"This is one of the reasons why he's here, if we get in a situation like this where we have to make a decision one way or the other, you feel comfortable with him. Chase understands. He's the oldest guy on our team, so he's got experience."
The 32-year-old quarterback joined the Bears in March after spending his first eight NFL seasons with the Saints (2010-12 and 2017), Chiefs (2013-15) and Eagles (2016). He has made just two career starts and attempted only 78 passes, completing 51 for 480 yards with one touchdown, one interception and an 81.1 passer rating.
Daniel has not thrown a pass in the regular season this year for the Bears, but he excelled in the preseason, completing 67.6 percent of his throws for 516 yards with five touchdowns, three interceptions and a 93.1 passer rating.
"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 said. "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.
"We ran into a similar situation where we had to make a decision with Alex [Smith] several years ago. I think a matter of fact this one was literally hours before the game-slash the night before-and Chase didn't blink. He went in and it was toward the end of the season and he did great with a bunch of backups against a playoff team in the San Diego Chargers back in the day. The confidence factor that he has, he's been with a lot of good quarterbacks. He has experience and you have trust."
