CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are going to give prized rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky a try.
The No. 2 overall draft pick from North Carolina will start against the Minnesota Vikings next Monday night after Mike Glennon struggled in the first four games, the team announced Monday morning.
It’s hardly a surprise that the Bears (1-3) will go with Trubisky considering how badly Glennon has struggled. Signed to replace Jay Cutler, he has five interceptions and three lost fumbles. He got picked off twice, lost a fumble on a sack and had another snap ricochet off his knee for a lost fumble in Thursday’s 35-14 loss at Green Bay.
The Bears envisioned this as sort of a redshirt season for Trubisky even though they made a bold move by trading up a spot with San Francisco to grab him on draft night. He started only 13 games at North Carolina and worked primarily out of the shotgun in a spread offense with few similarities to Chicago’s scheme.
He started came third on the depth chart behind Glennon and veteran Mark Sanchez. But with his mobility and arm strength, he progressed quicker than expected. Trubisky sparked a debate over who should start with a strong performance in the preseason opener against Denver, though he was more ordinary in the next three exhibitions.
Glennon played turnover-free ball in a 23-17 season-opening loss to Atlanta and had the Bears threatening for a last-second touchdown, though he struggled for much of the game. Things only got worse for Glennon in a blowout loss at Tampa Bay, and he didn’t play well in a surprising win over Pittsburgh, either.
Having a banged-up offensive line and depleted receiving corps didn’t help. With Cameron Meredith tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason and Kevin White breaking his shoulder in the opener, the Bears are missing their top two targets.
Linebacker Reuben Foster and safety Eric Reid will not be available to the 49ers on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
But it is possible that either or both players will be back on the practice field and available for action next week when the 49ers travel to play Washington. The 49ers expect Foster and Reid back no later, for sure, than the Oct. 22 game against Dallas at Levi's Stadium.
Foster (ankle), Reid (knee), linebacker Dekoda Watson (groin) and safety Adrian Colbert (hamstring) were officially ruled out of Sunday’s game at Indianapolis. The remaining members of the 49ers are expected to be available.
Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who sustained his fourth documented concussion since the beginning of training camp last year, is on pace to play in Sunday’s game. He is listed as questionable, and will be available if he remains symptom-free.
49ers injury report
Out
S Adrian Colbert (hamstring)
LB Reuben Foster (ankle)
S Eric Reid (knee)
LB Dekoda Watson (groin)
Questionable
WR Marquise Goodwin (concussion)
Colts injury report
Out
TE Jack Doyle (concussion, neck)
CB Nate Hairston (quadricep)
QB Andrew Luck (right shoulder)
Doubtful
RB Matt Jones (knee)
Questionable
CB Rashaan Melvin (hamstring, ankle)
WR Chester Rogers (hamstring)
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been under a lot of scrutiny lately for the "routes" comment he made during a midweek press conference.
On Friday, during his weekly radio interview, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan chimed in on the situation.
"We definitely have a woman who talks about routes all the time," Shanahan said. "I think our players definitely listen to her so it definitely caught me off when I saw Cam's comments."
Shanahan is referring to Katie Sowers and her role as a 49ers seasonal offensive assistant. Sowers became the first female assistant in NFC history this season. Sowers is situated upstairs for game days as part of Shanahan’s staff. Last season, she was with Shanahan as a member of the Falcons' staff on an internship.
“She came in and worked with the receivers and did as good of a job as anyone I've had in the internship," Shanahan said of Sowers in August. "We loved having her around. She was eager to learn it, she has played professional football in a women's league in the United States for a while and she's passionate about it.
“Us spending a whole training camp with her, she did a great job and she ended up helping out in Atlanta in personnel throughout the year."
"I heard he [Newton] apologized last night, which is definitely needed," Shanahan said. "But that's definitely something that we don't look at it that way around here."
Indeed, Newton did. In a video apology posted to social media, the former NFL MVP said: "After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women. "To be honest, that was not my intentions. And if you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.
"What I did was extremely unacceptable," Newton said. "I'm a father to two beautiful daughters and I try to instill in them that they can be anything that they want to be. The fact that during this process I have already lost sponsors and countless fans I realize that the joke is really on me. I have really learned a valuable lesson from this."
