Bears' Trubisky making consistent steps forward

Nov 23, 2017 - 1:34 AM LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The 24 points put up by the Chicago Bears in last week's loss to Detroit inspired optimism over the progress of the offense and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

It's a good thing, because the offense may need to begin holding up its end of the bargain after a season of watching the defense keep the Bears in games.

With linebacker Leonard Floyd likely out for the season due to a knee injury, the Bears are losing their most dynamic defensive force. Already without four defensive starters, the Bears are going into Philadelphia to face a high-powered Eagles team on Sunday needing another strong effort from Trubisky just to have a chance.

"It's going to be about us," Trubisky said. "We're going to go in and execute. Stay manageable. Move the chains. Be efficient on third down. Finish in the red zone when we get the chance. Take what they give us and take care of the football."

Trubisky and the offense rarely did any of those at the beginning of his six starts. Now with just 19 starts since he was a high-school player, Trubisky is showing obvious improvement.

"I would assess that I feel like I'm getting a little bit better each day," Trubisky said. "I'm learning a lot every day, each week, and I know what's expected of me and what I need to do on a daily basis in order to be prepared. I know how to carry myself around my teammates and how to lead. So (I'm) just continuing to make sure everybody's buying in."

The most obvious place Trubisky looked at ease was in the two-minute drill.

"I would say it's pretty natural," Trubisky said. "I love those moments. That's where you've kind of seen over time where the great quarterbacks have come from -- to be clutch, deliver in those moments.

"I think it makes the game that much more fun. You definitely want to deliver for your team, but it's all about staying cool, calm, collected, making sure everyone's on the same page and going down to do your job. But it just makes the game that much more exciting, but it's my job to stay calm in those situations. Hopefully, my teammates will feed off my demeanor so nobody's in a panic and everybody can just go do their job."

Good pass blocking and a 100-yard game from running back Jordan Howard didn't hurt last week. The starting offensive line was healthy -- as healthy as it can be at least -- and playing for the first time since the start of the New Orleans game Oct. 29.

"The offensive line, I think that was one of the first or second weeks they all played together, so we've got a lot more consistent play up front," Trubisky said. "They're an awesome group. As long as the pocket is clean, it's my job to do my job."

It's been a weekly progression for Trubisky. Going into Philadelphia could easily wind up being a step back, given the challenge. The Bears are two-touchdown underdogs in a place where they've had plenty of problems in the past.

"Every day to this point that he's taken the field, he's played better," offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. "That's what we keep telling him -- keep stacking good games, we're gonna keep playing better around you, we'll keep putting you in good situations, and the wins are going to come. But you're doing a really good job not turning the ball over.

"The passing game has become more and more efficient."

The Bears ultimately want Trubisky to be in the same place Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is this year -- leading the NFC in Pro-Bowl voting while playing for a 9-1 team.

Loggains pointed out Wentz was 1-6 starting in games that came down to a single possession last year. Trubisky this year is 1-4 in such games.

"Quarterbacks take those huge jumps from Year 1 to Year 2, and when you watch Wentz, he doesn't play like a young player anymore," Loggains said.

Trubisky has taken note of Wentz's efforts. He has a chance this weekend to leave the impression across the league that he can be like Wentz or the Rams' Jared Goff, and become a force in the near future.

"For sure, I study all quarterbacks across the league," Trubisky said. "Me and Carson have the same agent, so I was able to spend some time with him preparing for the draft and all that. It's really expected when you're drafted high and play right away that in the second year you transition well and really deliver for your team."

SERIES HISTORY: 41st regular-season meeting. Bears lead series, 28-11-1. The Eagles have won the last two games, including 29-14 in 2015 at Soldier Field. The Eagles won the last game in Philadelphia between the teams, 54-11 in 2013. There have been three playoff games between them, the Eagles winning in 2001, 33-19, and 27-17 in 1979, while the Bears won 20-12 in 1988.

--Cairo Santos arrived in Chicago feeling like he has the right background to succeed as a kicker at Soldier Field, where fickle winds off Lake Michigan often make for a kicker's nightmare.

He has already had to make the big adjustment, going from playing soccer in Brazil, to high-school football kicker in Florida, to kicking for Tulane and then to arctic weather.

"It was hard at first to come in from Brazil and then playing at Tulane in an indoor stadium, it was quite an adjustment to KC (when he was with the Chiefs) weather," Santos said. "But the last four years I think it shaped me to be an accomplished kicker.

"I played in some really bad stuff: rain, snow, 3-degree weather last year, playoffs, cold playoffs at home, away. So I've kind of gone through it all. And hopefully at Soldier Field, I know it's going to be the toughest place to kick, but through that experience I've learned to hit a straight ball, at least kind of do the things I can control, to not think about the elements."

Santos said he doesn't hold any grudges against the Chiefs for being cut while he had a groin injury.

"I was confident it wasn't going to be a serious injury," Santos said. "I just needed time. I dealt with it in training camp. I was kicking really well. I was the only kicker in KC. I just didn't give it the proper time to heal.

"I tried to play the first three games and it got worse. So my main goal was to get 100 percent. I've been kicking for about a month now. It's in good shape to come back and take a full load from a week's practice and the game."

--Head coach John Fox isn't feeling any remorse about the way the team handled wide receiver Alshon Jeffery's situation in the offseason, prior to his signing with the Eagles.

They could have kept Jeffery one more year at a huge salary as a second-year franchise player, or signed him to a big contract. But constant nagging injuries had left them skeptical of the benefits. Then numerous injuries to the wide receiver corps -- including Kevin White and Cameron Meredith -- made it look like the decision had blown up in their faces.

"Hindsight is always 20/20," Fox said. "That's pretty much known. He's a guy we liked. We did talk to him. It's not like we were not in the mix. A lot of times they (players) have decisions in that as well."

--Fox said arthroscopic surgery is a possibility for linebacker Leonard Floyd, who suffered a knee injury but did not have a torn ACL. The Bears haven't announced the exact injury to the knee, but Fox did say there's a good possibility Floyd will go on IR and miss the rest of the season.

"More than likely," Fox said. "It's a significant injury, thus likely."

--Although the Bears could move Christian Jones to outside linebacker, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio thinks it's more possible younger players will take on a relief role as a pass rusher and spell Sam Acho and Pernell McPhee.

"Well, he's (Jones) got the body type to do it, but I do think he's better suited inside right now," Fangio said.

Regardless, there's no doubt losing a pass rusher as effective as Floyd will take something out of the defense.

"I thought Leonard was having a good season," Fangio said. "He had decent sack numbers (4.5), but he had a lot of plays, too, where he ran down quarterbacks.

"We'll miss that athleticism and speed to where he tackled them after they ran for a yard or two or forced an errant throw, so we'll miss his athleticism and his overall speed."

Even with Floyd, Fangio called the pass rush "inconsistent" and not what it needed to be the past two weeks.

--Fangio isn't worried about cornerback Marcus Cooper's confidence level after he was beaten for a long touchdown and a few other passes last week in spot play.

"Everybody goes through that at some point," Fangio said. "He's not the first corner that got beat for a couple plays, and he won't be the last.

"But I'm sure because he hasn't played as much lately it could be damaging. But I do like his personality to come back."

It's not an ideal situation for the front office to have Cooper struggling. Both starting cornerbacks Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara are playing well and Cooper is under contract for next year and the other two are not.

--Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains continued taking heat for not having running back Tarik Cohen on the field for the two-minute drill. But he said the same thing head coach John Fox had said Monday -- younger players are either inexperienced or limited too much to contribute much in no-huddle situations at a game's end.

"Obviously Tarik is a player that we always talk about being a special player," Loggains said. "Every week is new to him. Every week he walks in and is like, 'I've got to learn this route, this route,' but now on top of that is that he's never played receiver and he is a running back that just has the ability to play some receiver. So we're teaching him new routes. But the thing that gets confusing is when there's 14 different personnel groupings that put him at X, Z, F, quarterback and he has to work really hard studying that.

"So he is a really bright kid, but it's just a heavy burden the load he carries, but he's done a really good job of it. We had a couple issues in the game that we'll get cleaned up and he'll continue to learn from, but he's a really good football player."

NOTES: WR Josh Bellamy (concussion) is in the league protocol and did not practice Wednesday after an injury suffered in the game with Detroit Sunday. ... DE Akiem Hicks (knee) did not practice Wednesday following an injury suffered against Detroit. Hicks likely will be questionable going into the game. ... DB DeAndre Houston-Carson (ankle) did not practice Wednesday following an injury against Detroit. ... DE Roy Robertson-Harris (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday and is week-to-week after suffering an injury two weeks ago against Green Bay. ... LB Danny Trevathan (calf) missed Wednesday's practice and hasn't been involved in a practice since suffering an injury Oct. 29 injury against the Saints. Trevathan is week-to-week and unlikely to play in this game against the Eagles. Nick Kwiatkoski will join Christian Jones at linebacker in Trevathan's absence, but the absence of Trevathan does keep the Bears from moving Jones to outside linebacker in pass-rush situations because he is the best remaining option to defend the pass at linebacker. ... CB Bryce Callahan (knee) practiced Wednesday on a limited basis for the first time since October and could return this week. It's possible he will have to sit if he's healthy because Cre'Von LeBlanc has played solid at slot corner. ... G Tom Compton (ankle) practiced Wednesday on a limited basis and could be ready to play backup guard for the first time since Oct. 29. ... WR Dontrelle Inman (groin) practiced Wednesday on a limited basis and should be able to play Sunday, although he is experiencing soreness from a previous injury. ... TE Dion Sims (illness) practiced on a limited basis. Sims hasn't played since facing New Orleans Oct. 29 and hadn't practiced since the week after that game during the bye. The Bears put him in an orange jersey for practice and the possibility he'll play seems 50-50. "He ran around, felt good and we'll see what tomorrow brings," head coach John Fox said. ... DL Mitch Unrein (knee) practiced Wednesday on a limited basis and is likely to play Sunday.