The Chicago Bears decided to wait all week to name a Week 4 starting quarterback.
Andy Dalton had the job if he was healthy, but a bone bruise in his knee remained an issue.
It appears the bone bruise remains a problem because the Bears are reportedly going with Justin Fields once again.
#Bears QB Justin Fields is expected to start on Sunday against the #Lions. Andy Dalton’s knee is not quite ready and he’s downgraded to doubtful, though he did make strides at practice this week.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 2, 2021
The future is now in Chicago, even if it is by default.
Fields Gets Another Chance
Fields was a first-round pick and is the supposed savior of the franchise, so him starting should not be anything too surprising.
But his first start, in Week 3, was a total disaster and all the storylines focused on Matt Nagy maybe not understanding how to develop a quarterback.
#Bears injury update:
We have downgraded QB Andy Dalton (knee) to Doubtful for Sunday’s game. QB Justin Fields will start vs. the Lions.
— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) October 2, 2021
In case anyone missed it, Fields finished 6/20 on the day with 68 yards.
Unfortunately, he lost 67 yards via nine sacks as the Cleveland Browns defense feasted on the rookie.
The Bears were not bringing in extra protection and David Montgomery only ran the ball 10 times in a game that was close until the fourth quarter.
This week brings a matchup against the Detroit Lions, who don’t have as dominant a defense as the one in Cleveland.
But things aren’t going to change unless Nagy opens up the playbook a bit and lets Fields take chances.
We are seeing that with the likes of Zach Wilson and Trevor Lawrence, who are both learning via their failures.
Nagy trying to protect Fields makes no sense and if he is doing that the rookie should just be on the bench in favor of Nick Foles.
Protecting him is fine he started from Week 1 and this year was about his development.
However, the Bears are clearly trying to compete and that is why Dalton opened the year as the starter.
Nagy may also be coaching for his job, which further adds to the confusion from the Week 3 performance.
Figuring Out Nagy’s Impact
It would appear Mitchell Trubisky was the quarterback who thrived the most in this offense, and the Bears decided to cut him loose in favor of pursuing the next big thing in Fields.
If Fields continues to look awful with embarrassing final lines, Nagy is going to have to receive the blame.
That makes this game against the Lions a potentially franchise-altering one, at least in terms of who leads the team this year and beyond.
Bears fans already saw this play out once before when John Fox was fired the year after Trubisky was drafted.
This trend may repeat itself this year with Nagy and Fields.
NEXT: Bears Waiting Until Sunday To Name A Starting QB
