Head coach Matt Eberflus offered precious few details about Justin Fields’ health Monday, one day after the quarterback had X-rays on his left shoulder following a 27-24 loss to the Falcons. But it’s clear the Bears are weighing how to move forward with the quarterback whose physical running style has redefined the future of their franchise the past six weeks.
At issue will be Fields’ short- and long-term health, the paltry stakes for which the 3-8 Bears are playing and the value of continuing the offensive momentum they’ve gained. Shutting Fields down for a game or two — the Bears have a bye Dec. 11 — could help heal the second-year quarterback’s shoulder an help preserve his body.
“Certainly, all those things have to be looked at,” Eberflus said. “When you’re looking at injury for any player, what are the long-term effects of that and then where is it? Where exactly is it? Is it something that we can play through or is it something that we can have rest? With any player, we take equation into those two things.”
Eberflus called the shoulder injury a “day-to-day proposition” but wouldn’t rule out a season-ending diagnosis, either. Those discordant statements were meant to offer as little insight as possible to the Jets, whom the Bears play Sunday. Eberflus considers such information a competitive advantage, though it’s unclear in which ways that’s benefited his 3-8 team this season. He said the Bears would give their next update the first time the league makes them do so — in Wednesday’s injury report.
Eberflus claimed that switching to veteran backup Trevor Siemian, the Northwestern alum who has taken three snaps and completed once pass this season, wouldn’t be difficult.
“We would just lean on one side of the offense as opposed to leaning on the side that we’ve expanded to, to a certain degree,” Eberflus said. “I think that would be a pretty easy transition. Trevor is obviously a very smart individual. A very good passer. Has a great grasp of the offense. He’s been here since Day 1. High functional intelligence.”
Running back David Montgomery sounded resigned to playing without Fields in the short term.
“It’d be very different, especially losing a guy like that,” he said. “Especially losing Justin, who he is and what he means to this team and to this offense. Yeah, it’s gonna be super difficult to not have him. But, you know, [coordinator Luke] Getsy and the offense, we prepare all those guys the same.”
Fields hurt his left shoulder when he was hit by Falcons cornerback Dee Alford on a first-down run toward the left sideline with 1:47 to play Sunday. He was taken by cart to an X-ray room after the game and said he was in “pretty bad” pain. His fourth-quarter hamstring issues were because of cramps.
David Chao, the SICscore.com analyst who was the Chargers team physician for 17 years, believes that, based on video evidence, Fields has a separated shoulder — or damage to ligaments that connect the highest point of the shoulder blade to the collarbone.
Chao said a separated shoulder wouldn’t inherently prevent Fields from playing Sunday. The Bears could inject his left shoulder with Marcaine, a numbing agent, shortly before kickoff.
“The good news is, it’s common for NFL teams to safely numb an AC joint and play pain-free,” he said. “Now does that mean you’re sore after the game? Maybe.”
The Bears, though, don’t figure to take many risks with their quarterback’s health.
“We’ll see where it goes,” Eberflus said.
