The Bears on Friday listed quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as doubtful for Sunday's road game against the New York Giants with a right shoulder injury, meaning that backup Chase Daniel is expected to make his second straight start.
Daniel excelled in place of Trubisky in the Bears' 23-16 victory over the Lions Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, completing 27 of 37 passes for 230 yards with two touchdowns, no turnovers and a 106.8 passer rating.
It was only the third start of Daniel's nine-year NFL career and it capped a short week during which he did not take any full-speed practice reps.
A week later, Daniel should benefit from participating in regular practices with his teammates Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in advance of Sunday's contest against the Giants.
"I think it helped out a lot," coach Matt Nagy said Friday. "It doesn't matter who you are, as much as you know the offense or don't know the offense, when you have reps and timing and throws it's going to definitely help you out."
Trubisky, meanwhile, threw footballs in practice Friday for the first time since injuring his shoulder Nov. 18 in a win over the Vikings.
"That was a good thing," Nagy said. "We were able to see that and see where he's at and it's an arrow up which is always good."
Asked how much Trubisky threw in practice, Nagy said: "I wouldn't go crazy and say it was a whole bunch. But it was enough to communicate with him. We have a plan with this and it is day-to-day, but yet there's also a process to it that we feel we need to go about. So giving him an opportunity to throw today and see where he's at and how he feels and all that was we thought the right thing to do today."
While the Bears no doubt are eager to get Trubisky back under center, teammates have the utmost confidence in Daniel's ability to operate the offense.
"You have to have that," Nagy said. "That's definitely valuable; for the players to have that trust. Because of what he does as a backup and the way they see him in meetings, the way they see him in practice and what he does for the 'look' team when he's a backup, they instantly respect that.
"And for him to be able to do that all the time when he's in that role and now [starting for the injured Trubisky], it just demands immediate credibility. Not every backup quarterback can say that, but we have that with Chase."
In other injury news, defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (Achilles) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game, but he practiced without restrictions Friday after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday.
"It was more precautionary," Nagy said. "And for him to practice today was good, so I feel confident there with him."
Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols (knee) is also questionable after being limited in Friday's practice, while running back Benny Cunningham (ankle) and special-teams standout Sherrick McManis (hamstring) both missed practice and are doubtful.
After sitting out the Lions game with concussions, tight end Adam Shaheen and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch have been removed from the injury report and are expected to play against the Giants.
