After missing nearly two full games due to dislocated shoulder and slight labrum tear, Mitchell Trubisky seems on track to return this Sunday when the Chicago Bears take on the New Orleans Saints in a pivotal Week 7 matchup.
The Bears are 3-2 and are coming off of a rough loss to the Oakland Raiders in London, and with the Green Bay Packers sitting at 5-1 and showing no signs of slowing down, Chicago needs to start stringing together some wins, especially in a rugged NFC North division that also includes the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions.
But are the Bears capable of doing that right now?
Chicago's offense has been horrendous this season, to say the least. Not that the Bears are ever really known for being offensive juggernauts, but at least last year, they scored some points.
This season, Chicago ranks 30th in the NFL in yards and 27th in scoring, and even with a dominant defense, it's going to be tough for the Bears to seriously contend with that type of offensive production.
A lot of that falls on the shoulders of Trubisky, who has not taken the step forward that many hoped in 2019.
Even before the injury in Week 4, Trubisky had not been playing well, as he has thrown for 588 yards, three touchdowns and a couple of interceptions while completing 65.1 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 81 thus far.
So why should we believe that Trubisky will play well coming off of a significant injury that almost certainly is not fully healed?
Well, we really can't, and the bad news for the Bears is that the Saints' defense is no joke, as it ranks 10th in the league and has done a terrific job stopping the run in recent weeks, so Chicago can't just have Trubisky hand the ball off to his running backs and expect success.
Not that the Bears even have much of a running game to begin with, as Mike Davis has been a massive disappointment, Tarik Cohen has been virtually non-existent and David Montgomery has had an inefficient rookie year thus far.
How much of that is coaching and how much of that is just poor player performance is up for debate, but regardless of what it is, it's hard to just flip that switch and reverse course midway through a season.
That means Trubisky may have to start doing something he has not been accustomed to doing throughout his young NFL career: winning games with his arm.
By and large, Trubisky has been a game manager since entering the NFL in 2017. He hasn't shown many flashes of brilliance, and many are beginning to wonder whether or not he will ever be anything more than a mediocre quarterback
But the Bears drafted him with the second overall pick two-and-a-half years ago for a reason.
The kid certainly has talent, and it's about time he begins putting it on display.
It's not like he is bereft of weapons in the passing game. Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel are not exactly Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley (not that that has done much for the Falcons this year), but they are solid receivers. Plus, Trey Burton is a decent tight end. I'm not sure what's going on with Anthony Miller, but if he can ever get out of Matt Nagy's doghouse, he might be an effective weapon.
Trubisky also won't have to contend with Drew Brees, as the Saints quarterback is still recovering from a thumb injury.
All of that being said, don't expect too much from Trubisky this weekend.
Nagy likely isn't going to want to put Chicago's fate in the hands of his compromised quarterback, meaning he will likely have Trubisky throw a lot of short passes and will probably give his running back trio more of a chance.
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