Mitchell Trubisky confident shoulder injury won't keep him out of Rams game

LAKE FOREST, Ill. --Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky expressed confidence on Wednesday that his right shoulder will be healthy enough for him to play against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night.

"I do [expect to play this week]," Trubisky said. "I just have to show Coach that I can play. I'm feeling good about where I'm at. As long as I can show them that I can go out there and do it and make all the throws and be the player that I know I am, I feel confident I'll be able to go.

"I feel really close, feel really close. Feel good. Hopefully, they will let me go because I feel I can."

The Bears exercised extreme caution in regards to the right shoulder injury Trubisky suffered late in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 25-20 victory over Minnesota in Week 11.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy declared almost immediately that Trubisky's injury was not of the long-term or serious variety, but Chicago nevertheless decided to sit Trubisky the past two weeks and turn the offense over to the journeyman backup Chase Daniel.

"It's different than any other injury because it's my throwing shoulder," Trubisky said. "It's something that I'm going to need for the rest of my career, obviously. Anytime there's any pain, I'm just communicating that and being smart about it.

"My pain tolerance has gone up over the years, just being able to know what you can play through and know when you just need to pull back a little bit. So it's being smart, communicating to the staff and all that, and just really not trying to be a superhero, because you don't want anything to linger the rest of this year, my career going forward."

The Bears cleared Trubisky to resume throwing late last week, and he was a full participant in practice Wednesday.

Trubisky's performance at practice will be an important barometer in determining his availability and effectiveness on Sunday night, according to Nagy.

"I feel strongly that he will play, but I got to see more," Nagy said on Wednesday. "I feel good about it. I hope so. Looking forward to it. I'm anxious to get him out there and throw the ball around with the guys and then be able to evaluate him after that."

Chicago's highly anticipated prime-time matchup with Los Angeles will pit Trubisky against another of the league's highly touted young quarterbacks:Jared Goff.

Trubisky and Goff, who share the same representation, lived and trained together in California in the offseason.

Trubisky believes there are parallels between himself and Goff, who initially struggled after the Rams picked him No. 1 overall in 2016 before hitting his stride the past two years.

After leading Los Angeles to the playoffs last season, Goff has passed for 3,754 yards, 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions through 12 games in 2018.

Trubisky -- the second overall choice of the 2017 NFL draft -- has totaled 2,832 yards and accounted for 23 touchdowns in 10 games during his second professional season. Last year, Trubisky passed for just seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in an underwhelming rookie season.

"What I appreciate about Jared is that he has never really been shaken," Trubisky said. "A lot of people wrote him off after that first year. But watching him and how he handled himself, he's very composed. Never really rattled. He believed in himself and has had really two amazing years since then. So I know you just have to have confidence in yourself so that your teammates will believe in you as well. If you do that, you're able to do your job well. And that's something he has done really well these past two years."