LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) - This time Chase Daniel has a little preparation.
Daniel, Chicago’s backup quarterback, last week helped defeat the Detroit Lions 23-16 as a replacement for injured Mitchell Trubisky without benefit of a real practice.
With the Bears preparing Wednesday to face the New York Giants on Sunday, Daniel took the snaps with the first team while Trubisky practiced only on a limited basis because of the shoulder injury he suffered Nov. 18 against the Minnesota Vikings.
“It’ll be good to actually get some timing down with the receivers and tight ends and running backs, although I thought it was pretty good last week, too, for not really taking a full-speed rep all week,” Daniel said. “There’s always stuff you can grow on.
“I’m a perfectionist, so what I try to do is look at the negatives of the game and try to improve on it. And there were 10 incompletions; some of those should’ve been completions. Four sacks; too many, those were all on me.”
Coach Matt Nagy said it’s possible it will be a “game-time thing” regarding his starting quarterback decision for this week.
“It will end up probably being day to day here, but when I say that, if he (Trubisky) starts feeling better and we feel like we need to make a decision earlier, we’ll do that,” Nagy said.
The Bears are not releasing details of the shoulder injury or its extent, but Nagy said again it is not a long-term situation and added there is no limit to Trubisky’s range of motion. Nagy said the week away seemed to benefit Trubisky health-wise.
“I think the time was good for him,” Nagy said. “I don’t know his exact pain tolerance or level right now. But I definitely think his arrow’s up right now, and we’ll just have to kind of keep communicating with him on a day-to-day basis as to where he’s at, how he feels and the same thing with the trainers.”
Daniel played without a practice last week because the Bears played on Thursday following a Sunday night game, and the Bears only held walk-through practices on Monday and Tuesday.
Against the Lions, Daniel stepped in and went 27 for 37 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his first start since 2014.
“He knows the offense very well,” Bears running back Jordan Howard said. “He probably knows it as well as Nagy. So I knew he was going to do well.”
The Bears had just 16 points from their offense against Detroit, and Daniel was sacked four times. Daniel saw plenty of places where he and teammates could improve their output if the chances arise.
“I mean, listen, I’ve got to get the ball out quicker on some of those and a couple of them were miscommunications,” Daniel said. “I’ve got to be clearer up front about how I want to set the protection.”
The Bears signed Daniel as backup to Trubisky because of his knowledge of the Kansas City offense after he spent 2013-15 playing for coach Andy Reid with Nagy as quarterbacks coach. He said last week he knew the offense like “the back of my hand.”
“The more I’m with them, whether it be in practice or the game, the better they’ll feel with me,” Daniel said Wednesday.
Ironically, there were questions last week about Daniel’s ability to be ready, but now the questions are how ready Trubisky can be if he goes late into the week without practicing and is called upon to start.
“He really hasn’t been in this situation,” Nagy said, then added, “just because he’s been playing and has had time this year, it wouldn’t be that much of a concern.”
Whichever quarterback starts, he’ll benefit from a defense ranked fourth in the league overall and No. 1 in interceptions. Two straight weeks safety Eddie Jackson returned interceptions for key touchdowns, and on Wednesday it earned him NFC defensive player of the week honors.
“A defense like ours, that gets you turnovers and gets you two or three extra possessions a game, you’re going to win a lot of games like that,” Daniel said.
NOTES: Tight end Adam Shaheen and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch, who missed last week’s game with concussions, have been cleared to practice and are expected to play against the Giants. … Defensive end Akiem Hicks did not practice due to heel soreness.
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