Bears To Start Mitchell Trubisky In Week 12

Mitchell Trubisky will receive another chance. The Bears are turning back to their initial 2020 starter against the Packers, Matt Nagy announced Friday.

Nick Foles is battling a hip injury but has struggled after enjoying brief success upon replacing Trubisky earlier this season. The Bears have lost four straight and rank 31st in both points and total yards after 10 games. Foles has not practiced this week.

The Bears lost Trubisky to injury as well, but the former No. 2 overall pick has recovered and will attempt to mount one last contract-year push ahead of a potential free agency bid. Chicago used Tyler Bray as Foles’ backup while Trubisky sat. Despite being a 2013 UDFA, Bray had one career pass attempt going into that ill-fated relief effort. Trubisky, 26, will return to a stat line that includes a career-low 59.3% completion rate and a 6.5 yards-per-attempt figure. He ended last season at 6.1.

Trubisky’s return to action illustrates how dire the Bears’ offensive situation has become. Nagy benched the fourth-year starter in Week 3, and Foles led a comeback victory over the collapse-prone Falcons. Trubisky struggled against Atlanta, continuing a swoon that prompted the Bears to pass on his fifth-year option in May. Trubisky regressed across the board last season, and the Bears traded for Foles. The latter, however, ranks 28th in Total QBR. Nagy handed off the play-calling reins to OC Bill Lazor in Week 10, but the Bears accomplished little on offense in a loss to the Vikings.

All of this has resulted in the Bears continuing to largely waste the work of their top-tier defense — a familiar refrain in Chicago. The Bears’ losing streak has moved them to the “In the hunt” sector of NFC playoff picture graphics.

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