The story following the Chicago Bears’ deflating 17-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams remains beleaguered quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who was pulled from the game with Chicago down 10 points and less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
There was speculation that Matt Nagy benched his struggling third-year quarterback after sideline cameras captured a conversation between the two in which Trubisky appeared to be on the verge of tears. It looked more like a coach benching his quarterback for performance rather than injury.
Although Trubisky was far from the problem on Chicago’s offense — dropped passes, receivers stopping running routes and questionable pass protection led the way.
Nagy has since confirmed that Trubisky suffered a hip pointer against the Rams on the final drive of the first half. Trubisky received treatment for the injury at halftime, and while it looked like he was fine to start the third quarter — leading the Bears on an 80-yard touchdown drive — it wasn’t something he was able to overcome down the stretch.
“What ended up happening over time with him was it became stiff and tighter and tighter,” Nagy said Monday, via NFL.com. “We ended up keeping an eye on it and noticing that we wanted to be careful of it affecting his play. … I knew he had a hip deal, but it wasn’t significant to not play. But over time the stiffness got to a point to where he really wasn’t even able to sit on the bench. That’s when I became aware of it and we kept an eye on him for a series and a half.”
That was when Nagy pulled Trubisky from the game. Nagy said the move was for health reasons in order to “protect him from himself” and had “zero to do with his play.”
“The thing that you love about Mitch is that he’s extremely tough,” Nagy said. “I love that about him. But at the same time, he’s at a point where you could see that it was painful. What I had to do was, I wanted him to know coming from me that he needs to be brutally honest with me in regards to his pain and where he’s at. That’s exactly what it was.”
Whether Trubisky will be healthy enough to go Sunday against the New York Giants remains to be seen. But Nagy said it’s something they’re “working through” and if he’s healthy, he’s “absolutely” the starter.
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