Bears coach Matt Nagy didn’t seem too concerned about quarterback Justin Fields’ ankle early in the week. He said he expected him to play Sunday against the Seahawks and portrayed scaling back his work in practice during the week as simply a precaution.
Turns out it was quite a bit cloudier than that, and Fields is likely to miss the game.
The Bears will start third-stringer Nick Foles against the Seahawks, and practice-squad quarterback Ryan Willis most likely will back him up.
Nagy said Friday that Fields would be available off the bench if he proves healthy enough in pre-game warmups, but specified that would be as an “emergency” option in case Willis doesn’t have a clear enough grasp of the playbook. Taking even the slightest risk with Fields wouldn’t make sense given that the Bears have nothing to play for in the standings.
Fields is officially listed as questionable against the Seahawks. The Bears also declared backup Andy Dalton out with non-throwing hand and groin injuries.
Foles has not played since Dec. 27 against the Jaguars.
The Bears signed Willis, 25, to their practice squad Dec. 18. He went undrafted out of Virginia Tech in 2020 and has never taken an NFL snap.
The Bears didn’t actually practice this week since their roster has been depleted by the coronavirus and injuries, but the NFL requires them to estimate what any injured player’s participation would’ve been if they had. In Fields’ case, the team said he wouldn’t have been able to work Thursday or Friday.
The NFL also mandates that they update his status if it changes anytime between now and kickoff.
Fields “tweaked” his ankle in the second quarter of the Bears’ 17-9 loss to the Vikings on Monday, but stayed in the game and said Wednesday he expected to play in Seattle.
The Vikings hit him seven times on pass plays, including three sacks, and he took various hits on his seven rushes.
If he’s not reasonably close to full strength, it’d be prudent of the Bears to hold Fields out. While every snap is important in his development for next season and beyond, his health is paramount and the Bears have nothing on the line standings-wise at 4-10.
“With him, we will always make sure that we protect the player and we will never put a player at risk,” Nagy said.
Even if he plays, Fields’ ankle injury compounds the likely limitations he was already facing in the aftermath of suffering cracked ribs a month ago. He has been back for two games, but almost certainly is still in pain.
His rookie season has been difficult enough even when healthy.
Amid the Bears’ constant reshuffling on the offensive line, changes in play callers and a variety of injuries to skill players, it has been hard to get a good read on Fields’ progress.
He played one of his best games against the Vikings by completing 67% of his passes, throwing for 285 yards and a touchdown and clocking a 96.6 passer rating. For the season, though, he ranks 30th in the NFL in completion percentage (59%), 31st in yards passing per game (142.6), 32nd in percentage of passes intercepted (3.7%) and 29th in passer rating (73.2).
Not surprisingly, and clearly a factor working against him, the Bears have allowed the second-most sacks in the NFL at 45. Fields has been pressured on 27.3% of his drop-backs, according to Pro Football Reference. That’s fifth-highest.
The Bears traded for Foles in the 2020 offseason hoping he’d solve their ongoing quarterback problem, but Mitch Trubisky beat him out for the job to open the season. Foles replaced Trubisky in Week 3, but was benched again in favor of Trubisky in Week 12 for the rest of the season.
