Bears QB Mitch Trubisky ‘day to day’ with shoulder injury, wants to face Lions

Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky is “day to day,” coach Matt Nagy said Tuesday, after hurting his right shoulder in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Trubisky did not practice Tuesday afternoon but Nagy said he could play Thursday against the Lions without practicing all week. The quarterback was not made available to the media, the Bears’ standard practice for injured players.

“What’s my sense? I’m staying cautiously optimistic — but I can’t make any promises,” Nagy said. “I hope he does. But it’s a day-to-day thing for us, like I said. He wants to play. I know that. And for us, but we got to make sure in these situations that we’re doing the right thing.”The Bears have done their testing on his shoulder, and Nagy said the team is “very confident” that Trubisky doesn’t have a long-term issue. He won’t need any kind of surgery. Backup Chase Daniel said Trubisky’s shoulder is feeling better with each passing day, though Nagy said he’s still in pain.

Daniel would start if Trubisky can’t. He has two career starts, and has tried only three regular-season passes since the end of the 2014 season.

The Bears had only one light practice this week — on Tuesday — and even that is closer to a walk-through. If Daniel plays, it will be after doing little mid-week work.

“The No. 1 thing that you learn about Chase when you’re around him is that in a really good way, he’s extremely confident in how he plays, because he’s so smart,” Nagy said. “The game is not fast to him when he plays. The other thing with Chase that I’ve always appreciated is the fact that he prepares every game like he’s the starter, if his time does come, he doesn’t blink.”

Trubisky was in pain after keeping the ball on a five-yard run with 3:13 to play and the Bears up eight. Trubisky slid to give himself up at the end of the run but took a late hit from Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who was flagged for a personal foul.

Smith hit Trubisky on the top of his left shoulder, seemingly pushing his right shoulder into the Soldier Field turf. When Trubisky was helped up by teammates, he extended his left hand — not his right. TV cameras, however, showed him winking after the play, as if everything was fine.

“He has a right shoulder that we’re dealing with right now,” Nagy said Tuesday. “It’s something that’s gonna be day to day for us.”