Sources: Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky had surgery on left shoulder

ByJeff Dickerson ESPN logo
Wednesday, January 29, 2020

CHICAGO -- Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky underwent surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his left, non-throwing shoulder shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

The typical recovery time for a minor procedure such as this is a couple of months. The Bears are scheduled to begin their offseason program in April.

Bears general manager Ryan Pace hinted at the team's end of the year news conference that Trubisky may need surgery.

"We're looking at that right now," Pace said on Dec. 31. "It would be his left shoulder. Just doing the exit physicals yesterday, going through it yesterday, there is a potential he could. We are just going to go through that."

Trubisky, 25, suffered a dislocated left shoulder and partially torn labrum in a Week 4 victory over the Vikings, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter in late September.

The injuries forced Trubiskyto sit out the Bears' next game versus the Raiders in London, but the young quarterback returned to the starting lineup on Oct. 20 following the club's bye week.

The second overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft, Trubisky finished the year 28th in total QBR (39.4), tied for 27th in touchdown passes (17), 21st in passing yards (3,138), 32nd in yards gained per pass attempt (6.1) and 28th in traditional quarterback rating (83.0).

The Bears went 8-8 and failed to reach the playoffs.

In 2018, which was Matt Nagy's first season as head coach, the Bears went 12-4 as Trubisky passed for 3,223 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and rushed for 421 yards and three touchdowns.

Pace insisted in December that the Bears remain committed to Trubisky as their starting quarterback, but Chicago is expected to upgrade at backup quarterback in the offseason.

"I think with Mitch, as we go through it, and we need more time in the coming months to evaluate everything, but the first thing that comes to mind for me is just consistency," Pace said. "You see moments, you see games, but for him [the problem is] stringing together better consistency. So you have the peaks and valleys, we just need to flatten that out.

"I think with Mitch, you know especially with a young quarterback, in a lot of cases, it's never going to be a straight line, it's never going to be linear. There are going to be ups and downs. And you see moments this year, you see games, you see him responding to adverse situations within a game, those are signs of positive improvement. We just need to smooth out those inconsistencies."