Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky is going to the Pro Bowl.
He will replace Rams quarterback Jared Goff, who will skip the game and play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.
The all-star game will be held Sunday in Orlando, Fla. Practice starts there Wednesday.
Trubisky was listed as an injury replacement possibility last month, when Pro Bowl voting results were released. Trubisky would have wound up in the all-star game regardless of how Sunday’s NFC Championship Game shook out, as Saints quarterback Drew Brees was also on the original Pro Bowl roster. Trubisky will be joined by Brees and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who earlier this month replaced injured Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Last month, Trubisky said he wasn’t sure what to make of being a Pro Bowl alternate.
“I don’t know — it’s cool to get recognized,” he said. “But like I said, I definitely don’t feel like I’ve played my best football yet. I feel like you’ve got to appreciate how far you’ve come. Which I have. But I know I still have a long ways to go. It’s cool to get recognized but all the credit goes to my teammates. They’re the reason I got a recognition like that. But I just want to make sure that I continue to keep the first thing first. Which is winning games for this team and continuing to get better.
“I know if I just keep getting better, everything else will take care of itself. But it definitely showed some of the hard work I’ve put in over my time here so far.”
He becomes the first Bears quarterback named to the Pro Bowl since Jim McMahon in 1986. He’ll join four teammates — defensive end Akiem Hicks, cornerback Kyle Fuller, safety Eddie Jackson and returner Tarik Cohen — at the game. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack was named to the team but will sit out because of a knee sprain.
Amazingly, three of Ryan Pace’s draft picks in 2017 — Cohen, Jackson and Trubisky — reached the Pro Bowl in their second seasons.
Trubisky threw 24 touchdown passes and completed 67 percent of his passes for 3,223 yards in his second season, leading the Bears to an 11-3 record in his 14 starts. Trubisky missed two games with a right shoulder injury after the Vikings’ Harrison Smith hit him while he was sliding in November.
The Bears lost in the wild-card playoff round to the Eagles after Trubisky drove the team down the field in the game’s final seconds, only for Cody Parkey to hit the left upright and the crossbar on the potential winning field-goal try.
