Mitchell Trubisky injures shoulder early in Bears' win over Vikings

CHICAGO -- Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky suffered a left shoulder injury early in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and missed the majority of his team's 16-6 victory.

Coach Matt Nagy said he didn't think Trubisky's injury was a season-ender, but he did not have any information on the extent of the damage.

The Vikings knocked Trubisky out of the game on the Bears' sixth offensive play of the afternoon when Minnesota defensive end Danielle Hunter sacked the 25-year-old quarterback for a 10-yard loss.

On the play, Trubisky's body twisted and his left shoulder hit the ground violently as Hunter pulled him down, causing the quarterback to fumble. Minnesota's Everson Griffen scooped up the ball, although a defensive holding penalty on Vikings safety Anthony Harris gave the ball back to Chicago.

Trubisky immediately went to the blue injury tent before being escorted to the locker room for further medical attention. He returned to the sideline with his left arm in a sling, watching a good portion of the game from there, and was in the locker room congratulating teammates after the game.

"I haven't found out a whole lot other than it's his shoulder," Nagy said. "I'll know here in the next day or two. Hopefully the next day, but we'll see how that goes."

Veteran backup Chase Daniel replaced Trubisky and tossed a first-quarter touchdown pass to running back Tarik Cohen. Daniel capably managed Sunday's game without any turnovers and finished 22-of-30 passing for 195 yards and the one touchdown as the Bears improved to 3-1.

"Zero change with Chase [at quarterback]. We just keep rolling," Nagy said. "That's the beauty of having a guy like Chase. Chase and I go way back, and he's like a coach out there. He was ready. He prepares himself every single day for when this happens to help his team out. We're very, very lucky to have Chase as our backup quarterback."

The Bears signed Daniel, who played under Nagy in Kansas City, prior to the 2018 season to a two-year deal that included $7 million in guarantees. Daniel will earn $6 million in 2019.

Daniel, 32, started two games when Trubisky was injured last season and said that experience "really helped me with communication, especially with the offensive line."

"I've been in the league a long time," Daniel said. "When you get your opportunities, you never really know when they are going to come as a backup, so my mindset is to always be ready."

The second overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Trubisky started all 12 games as a rookie after taking over for ineffective Mike Glennon in Week 5, though he missed the two games last season because of a right shoulder injury.

Trubisky finished last season with respectable numbers in Nagy's system, passing for 3,223 yards and 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions (95.4 quarterback rating) as Chicago went 12-4 and won its first NFC North title since 2010.

But Trubisky struggled to begin the 2019 season.

After lackluster performances versus Green Bay and Denver, Trubisky got back on track in the Bears' victory over the Redskins last Monday night, throwing for a season-high 231 yards with three touchdowns with one interception. Trubisky had completed 2 of 3 passes for 9 yards at the time of his injury Sunday.

Nagy did not want to elaborate on linebacker Roquan Smith's missing Sunday's game for personal reasons.

"I'm going to leave it as it's completely a personal matter, and I'm going to completely leave it at that," Nagy said.