The Chicago Bears might not have starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for Thursday's Thanksgiving Day clash with the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
Trubisky injured his throwing shoulder in last week's win over the Minnesota Vikings. He missed practice all week and was listed as doubtful on Chicago's injury report Wednesday.
It was Trubusky who helped carry the Bears to a 34-22 victory over Detroit 10 days ago in Chicago by throwing for a career-high 355 yards and accounting for four total touchdowns.
Backup quarterback Chase Daniel, a nine-year veteran, will start in place of Trubisky if he can't go. Daniel has started just two games in his nine-year career, but hasn't attempted a regular-season pass since the 2016 season. His last start was Week 17 in 2014 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He has appeared in 60 career games and completed 51-of-78 passes for 480 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He's 1-1 as a starter.
"The nice thing about having a guy like Chase is I was Chase's quarterback coach in Kansas City for three years," Bears head coach Matt Nagy said in a conference call this week. "So, I know Chase inside-out and he knows me. And so, that's why you bring in a guy like Chase, is not only for his expertise in this offense, but in the way he handles his position each and every week."
Lions head coach Matt Patricia was asked Tuesday if anything changes for the Lions' game plan on defense this week if Daniel starts instead of Trubisky.
"Obviously, in the situation with Chase Daniel, the guy is very versed in the system," Patricia said. "He's played in it for a while, he's been with (Matt) Nagy before, he understands it, has complete control of the system. He's a veteran guy. A little bit different than Trubisky, but as far as the operation of the offense, none of that really will change."
Patricia said they would obviously take a look at Daniel on film and see what he likes to do and get a good grasp of his skill set, but Detroit is preparing for Chicago's system on offense, and they don't expect that to change too much with Daniel at the helm.
"The quarterbacks in those systems do a good job of dispersing the ball, getting it to their go-to guys, getting it to the playmakers and letting those guys do a great job of getting yardage," Patricia said.
"So, I don't really anticipate it being much different from that standpoint. I think he'll be a guy that can step right in and do that if that's the case. But we have to prepare for both. We'll see what it looks like here on Thursday."
