Mitchell Trubisky's Sunday night ended early.
The Chicago Bears took their starting quarterback out against the Los Angeles Rams with 3:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. Chase Daniel replaced the QB with Chicago down 17-7.
Trubisky's exit prompted questions as to whether the 2017 No. 2 overall pick had been benched for Daniel due to poor performance, but the team said Trubisky was dealing with a hip injury. Bears coach Matt Nagy elaborated on his QB's ailment following the defeat.
"It was all based off he wasn't feeling right. His hip was hurting him," Nagy told reporters. "We knew a few series earlier that something wasn't right. We watched him to keep an eye on him and see how it was. I had to go on the side and talk to him. ... He needed to be honest with us and trying to play through that is what he was doing."
Nagy said Trubisky's hip issue was affecting how he was throwing in the second half, especially to his left. Trubisky said he was throwing with "a lot of arm" in the final frames and it affected his accuracy.
The Bears coach said Trubisky landed on the hip earlier in the game and was "playing through it." Nagy did not know on which play in particular Trubisky initially suffered the injury, though the QB said it occurred on one of the last drives of the second quarter and he was evaluated at halftime.
"It just kept getting tighter and tighter in the hip region," Trubisky said, "and I couldn't move around like I wanted to."
After leading a half-opening 12-play scoring drive, Trubisky led four more drives, three of which three-and-outs, for a combined 35 net yards. Before the next drive, Nagy walked over to Trubisky and the coach delivered what the QB called "difficult" news.
"I appreciate Mitch's toughness," Nagy said. "The kid did not want to come out."
Trubisky added, "They made a call that they felt was best for the team. You've got to support that, and you've just got to be 100 percent to be out there with your team and I just couldn't do that."
Daniel came in for Chicago's final drive of the game, which lasted seven plays, went six yards and ended with a turnover of downs.
Trubisky finished the game with 24-of-43 attempts for 190 yards, one TD and one INT.
This is not the Bears starter's first brush with the injury bug this year; Trubisky missed Chicago's Week 5 loss to Oakland with a shoulder injury.
The Bears, now 4-6 and fading from the NFC playoff picture, host the New York Giants next week. Whether Trubisky will be starting under center remains to be seen.
