Giants prepare for Bears' offense, not QB
Bears coach Matt Nagy watches his team against the Lions during their win on Thanksgiving. Credit: Getty Images/Leon Halip
The Giants came into this week certain about who their quarterback will be. They’re less clear on which quarterback they’ll be facing.
While the Bears have yet to declare a starter for Sunday’s game, there are reports that Mitchell Trubisky has yet to throw a pass in practice since suffering a shoulder injury and that Chase Daniel will get the nod for the second straight game.
The Giants are preparing for both. More to the point, they are preparing for the offense in general, not either signal-caller in particular.
“Whatever quarterback ends up playing, even last week, you see the same components of their offense,” Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher said. “Lots of motions, lots of ways to try to create matchups, or what maybe they’re looking at as mismatches.”
Pat Shurmur said it was beneficial that the Giants were able to see a “sample size” of how the Bears look with Daniel running the offense in the win over the Lions on Thanksgiving.
“Chase Daniel executed, in my opinion, a very gritty [performance],” Shurmur said. “Kind of what your backup quarterback should do: Come in, take care of the ball.”
The Giants will have little tweaks in their defensive game plans for either quarterback. “You certainly have some things that you like versus each of those two,” Bettcher said.
Said Giants defensive captain Alec Ogletree, “Of course they both kind of play a little bit different games, but for the most part, they do the same stuff, so we’re preparing for either one.”
Notes & quotes: TE Evan Engram (hamstring) missed a second straight practice and seems like a long shot to play. LB Lorenzo Carter (hip) also did not practice.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
