The Bears returned to practice on Monday, the first time the team was at Halas Hall since they left for London almost two weeks ago. Among those who did practice was starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who has been out for most of the last two games with an injured non-throwing shoulder. Head coach Matt Nagy wouldn’t definitively say whether Trubisky would start on Sunday against the Saints, but was encouraged by what he saw from the quarterback in practice. 

“His situation for us is seeing exactly where he’s at with pain,” Nagy said on Monday. “Just all of us collaborating exactly to see where he is, so that we can make a decision as to which way we want to go for this week –– whether he’s ready or if he’s not ready.” 

It was reported that Trubisky suffered a dislocated left shoulder, along with a slight labrum tear, when Minnesota defensive lineman Danielle Hunter tripped up the QB on the Bears’ first offensive drive of their Week 3 win over the Vikings. 

Monday was the first time he had thrown footballs since suffering the injury, a progression that –– along with the Bears moving 3rd string QB Tyler Bray back to the practice squad –– indicates Trubisky may not be far from returning. He wasn’t put on a pitch-count during Monday's practice, and the next step is assessing his pain tolerance. Nagy was adamant, however, in his assurance that if Trubisky is back on the field against New Orleans, it’ll be because the team is fully confident in his ability to absorb hits. 

“If he ends up playing, then he plays,” he said. “... You can’t tell someone to play a game and not get hit. You can’t do it. If you’re okay to play a game, than you’re okay to get hit. It’s not hard – it’s pretty simple.” 

Coming out of the bye, the Bears now head into a doozy of a schedule that includes games against (among others) Philadelphia, New Orleans, Dallas, and Kansas City. The Bears had one of, if not the, least productive offenses in football with Trubisky at the helm through the first three weeks, and Nagy talked on Monday about how the team is quickly approaching the point in the season where title contenders move away from the pack. There’s a good bit of pressure on the offense to figure out a quick fix, but it’s not changing what type of progression they’re expecting to see out of their third-year QB. 

“If he’s able to play, then I want to just be able to see the stuff I’ve always been looking for,” Nagy said. “Which is just in-and-out of the huddle, making throws at the right time, and then making proper decisions –– whether it’s in the run game or the pass game.”