The Bears have had to perform the past two weeks without the presence of third-year quarterback Justin Fields. While Fields has been dealing with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand, Chicago has gone 1-1 riding the arm of undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent. Although Bagent may still be the team’s starter this week in New Orleans, the Bears have moved one step closer to Fields’ return after seeing him come back to practice Friday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Fields originally suffered the injury in a Week 6 loss to the Vikings. The injury affected his grip on the ball, effectively removing his ability to pass the football. There were early concerns that surgery may be necessary, which had the potential to completely change the aspect of the team’s season.
Fortunately, Fields was able to avoid surgery and a stint on injured reserve, with head coach Matt Eberflus describing his quarterback’s status as “week to week” as swelling reduced and grip strength and mobility in the hand improved. Still the injury was still hampering the 24-year-old enough to hold him out of a second straight start last week, when the team lost to the Chargers with Bagent under center.
The injury came at terribly inconvenient time for Fields. After spending the first two years of his career as a bit of a developmental project, much of the Bears’ aspirations this year hinged on Fields taking the next step toward becoming an effective starter. Through the first three weeks of this season, fans were beginning to worry that they may be subject to a third year of what they had seen in the prior two seasons from Field: inconsistent and turnover-prone while showing flashes of what made him a first-round pick in 2021.
Then, in back-to-back starts, Fields delivered two of the best performances of his young NFL career, completing 67 percent of his passes for 617 yards, eight touchdowns, and one interception over the two-game stretch. There had been performances in 2022 that displayed his impressive rushing abilities, but this was the first demonstration of Fields taking his passing game to the next level. That demonstration was put on hold due to the dislocated thumb, but Chicago hopes that its starter will be able to return soon and continue that successful progress.
In the meantime, if one practice isn’t enough for Fields to comfortably return to the field, the Bears are likely to start Bagent once again down in New Orleans. A graduate of Division II program Shepherd University, Bagent had won the Harlon Hill Trophy, often considered Division II’s version of the Heisman Trophy, back in 2021. He beat out incumbent backup Nathan Peterman for the backup job with strong performances in training camp and the preseason.
In his first career start, Bagent impressed with his composed game management in the team’s win comfortable win over the Raiders, not needing to do much behind strong performances from the Bears defense and running backs. In Los Angeles last week, more was asked of Bagent as his defense and running game didn’t hold up nearly as well. The increased pressure amounted to less effectiveness and more turnovers against one of the NFL’s more porous defenses.
If it is Bagent that faces the Saints, he’ll be facing a group that has effectively shut down lesser opponents’ offenses so far this season, ranking 12th in points allowed and 8th in passing defense. Fields is likely returning to practice too close to the road contest to make a start this week, so expect Bagent to try to earn his second win as an NFL starter this week in the Big Easy.
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