LONDON — Mitch Trubisky is in a good place mentally, coach Matt Nagy said, and the Bears’ bye week will put him in a better place physically as he recovers from a dislocated left shoulder. Trubisky will rehab his shoulder during the bye, and Nagy wouldn’t rule out his starting quarterback’s return against the Saints on Oct. 20.
“Again, we’ll see,” Nagy said Monday morning at the Bears’ hotel, about 12 hours after the team’s 24-21 loss to the Raiders at Tottenham Stadium. “I hope he’s back. But I don’t know that. It could be something where it goes longer than that, I don’t know that.”
If the Bears don’t start running the ball well, they might as well keep Trubisky at home. It’d be better for his health.
The quarterback’s own rushing abilities will be dulled when he returns, as Trubisky figures to wear a harness on his left shoulder upon his return. His passing skills will be hampered, too, if the Saints can pin their ears back with no fear of the Bears running the ball with verve.
Why would any team worry about the Bears’ rushing attack? In the local parlance, it’s been rubbish.
Their ground game reached a new low — 42 yards — on Sunday. Their 2.47 yards per carry was their second-worst mark this season.
Six teams average fewer rushing yards per game than the Bears’ 80.6. Those teams — the Redskins, Falcons, Steelers, Jets, Bengals and Dolphins — might be the six worst in football. The list includes four winless teams and two one-win squads who have a combined 2-26 record. All but the Steelers comprise the NFL’s five worst teams in terms of point differential.
That’s a depressing neighborhood in which the Bears’ rushing attack has taken up residence. Nagy’s task during the bye week is to try to unlock it somehow.
“The production right now in the run game isn’t there,” Nagy said. “So we’ll go back, I’m gonna go back and I’m gonna figure out the ‘why’ part. And I told you [Sunday night], I think I know.
“But I will have a lot more and I am not saying that — obviously I’m not going to go back and tell everybody what I think it is at the end — but we’ll talk as a staff and figure [it] out.”
The Bears are frustrated with their offense line. Left tackle Charles Leno lead the NFL with eight penalties. Right guard Kyle Long has dealt with a hip problem and has struggled this season; the Bears played both Ted Larsen and Rashaad Coward when Long was inactive against the Vikings.
Right tackle Bobby Massie and left guard Cody Whitehair both signed fat contracts this year, but neither has dominated.
“You’ve got to win your one-on-one battles — and that’s just not the offensive line, that’s everybody,” Nagy said. “Whenever you have some places within your game that are struggling, that’s immediately what you go to.”
Four of the five Bears linemen have played together for three-and-a-half seasons. The fifth, James Daniels, started 10 games at left guard as a rookie last year before switching positions with Whitehair last year. The Bears bragged about the seamless position swap during training camp, but Nagy said something is missing on the line.
Still, he said, Whitehair and Daniels will remain at their current positions.
“This is the first year that they’ve done it together with these guys at specific positions, you know, so there is a communication process that goes on,” Nagy said.
Sunday, rookie David Montgomery had 11 carries for only 25 yards, while Tarik Cohen had four for 10. Mike Davis, whom the Bears gave a two-year, $6 million contract in March, played only four snaps.
He might be the perfect microcosm for the rushing attack.
“Mike’s done everything that we’ve asked — it’s nothing to do with anything as far as play. …” Nagy said. “He falls into that whole identity thing right now in the run game. We’re struggling there right now.”
