Mitchell Trubisky and Others Return to Practice

After a disappointing loss to the Oakland Raiders across the pond in Week 5, and a ton of injuries to key players, the Chicago Bears are back on the practice field to prepare for their next opponent. More importantly, a few of those injured players participated in practice for the first time since being sidelined with their respective injuries.

Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune took to Twitter, reporting that head coach Matt Nagy announced the return of Mitchell Trubisky, Taylor Gabriel, Ted Larsen, and Bilal Nichols.

Trubisky suffered an injury to his left shoulder (non-throwing) in the Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The three-year veteran sat out Week 5, and of course rested during the team’s bye week afterwards.

Prior to this week, the Bears made a roster move and released third-string quarterback Tyler Bray. This was definitely a tell-tale sign of Trubisky’s return for Week 7. Although the Pro Bowl quarterback is back on the practice field, it is still up in the air whether or not he’ll start against the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.

Gabriel is seeing the field for the first time since suffering a concussion in Chicago’s Week 3 win over the Washington Redskins. The speedy wide receiver was under the league’s concussion protocol, and is finally ready to make his contribution to the offense, having scored three touchdowns thus far this season.

Having Nichols back in the rotation along the defensive line is a sight for sore eyes. The second-year pro out of Delaware suffered a broken hand in Week 2 versus the Denver Broncos. Nichols is wearing a cast and it might interfere with his technique, but it will be good to have a starter back on the field—especially since it looks like Pro Bowler Akiem Hicks won’t be back anytime soon.

As for Larsen, he was a participant in practice, but Nagy didn’t sound too optimistic about the 10-year veteran seeing playing time in the near future. However, Nagy did mention that Rashaan Coward was taking first-team reps in the void left by Kyle Long.

After the Bears’ schedule for the 2019 season was released, many fans gasped at the somewhat early bye week. Now, in hindsight, this bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for Chicago. Most of their wounded are healed up and are ready to go back into battle just when some tough opponents are staring them right in the face. Not to mention, the Bears now have to fight their way out of the cellar in the NFC North. Let’s just hope that the injury bug has left the Windy City for the remainder of the season.