Chicago Bears rising star Justin Fields confirmed he hurt his shoulder on the first play of his final drive in Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. While he was still able to finish the game — which consisted of one more run play, then an interception — his status remained up in the air through the team’s postgame press conference.
Now, one day later, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus shared that his star quarterback, a rare bright spot in a 3-8 season, is going to miss some time. Maybe a few days of practice. Or maybe the rest of the season, he’s not quite sure.
Matt Eberflus said Justin Fields is 'day to day' but would not rule out the possibility of his injury being season-ending. That's quite the discrepancy.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 21, 2022
That’s quite a range, but it makes some sense. Fields could be available to play this winter, but there’s no real impetus to throw him into the fire for a team with no playoff aspirations.
Worse yet, he remains stuck behind an offensive line that’s allowed him to be sacked on nearly 15 percent of his dropbacks — somehow worse than last year’s 12 percent mark. No quarterback in the league has taken more punishment than the second-year passer, who leads the NFL in sacks taken (40) and yards lost via sack (238).
That means Bears fans could be subjected to seven weeks of Trevor Siemian starts to wrap up a once promising campaign. That stinks, but it’s better than risking serious injury to a player who looks like he could be the best homegrown quarterback the franchise has seen in decades.
