The Bears on Wednesday listed quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as doubtful on the injury report for Thursday's game against the Lions in Detroit.
The Bears conducted a walkthrough Wednesday, but had they practiced, Trubisky would not have been able to participate due to the right shoulder injury he sustained late in last Sunday night's 25-20 win over the Vikings.
Based on changes the NFL made to its injury reporting guidelines in 2016, doubtful means that "it is unlikely the player will participate" in the game.
If Trubisky can't play Thursday, he'd be replaced by Chase Daniel. The nine-year NFL career backup has not thrown a regular-season pass with the Bears this year, but he possesses a firm grasp of the offense having spent three seasons with the Chiefs from 2013-15 when Bears coach Matt Nagy was Kansas City's quarterbacks coach.
Daniel joined the Bears in March after spending his first eight NFL seasons with the Saints (2010-12 and 2017), Chiefs (2013-15) and Eagles (2016). He has made just two career starts and attempted only 78 passes, completing 51 for 480 yards with one touchdown, one interception and an 81.1 passer rating.
Daniel excelled in the preseason this summer with the Bears, completing 67.6 percent of his throws for 516 yards with five TDs, three interceptions and a 93.1 passer rating.
Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich is confident in Daniel because of his play and preparation.
"He is uber-prepared every single day, every single rep to go out there and compete in practice, in meetings, in all of the things," Helfrich said. "That's a hard thing to do. It's hard to stay at that level mentally and he does every single day."
Daniel, who also played in a similar offense with the Eagles in 2016, is confident in his ability to operate the Bears' system.
"It's the same offense that I was in for five years," Daniel said. "It's mostly the same plays. We've got some tweaks here and there and obviously different personnel. But I know the offense like the back of my hand. There's a very good comfort level there."
Daniel insists that he's always ready to play, regardless of the circumstances.
"I prepare like a starter every week," he said. "So I'm never surprised if the situation were to come, whether it's in the game or a starter gets hurt and you have a whole week to prepare, whether it's a short week. I've been around long enough that I understand that opportunities don't come very often, but if they do, you've got to take advantage of them."
If Daniel starts in place of Trubisky, the offense likely won't look radically different.
"They're not that significantly different," Helfrich said. "Certainly, you're going to tailor things to one person or another absolutely but within the same structure. We're not going to change the offense if [Daniel starts]. You can't. You can't do that, but certainly there are nuances to whoever is in there."
In other injury news, tight end Adam Shaheen and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch were both ruled out of Thursday's game after suffering concussions against the Vikings.
