Justin Fields practiced this week, but the Bears are keeping Andy Dalton in their starting lineup for the time being. The 11th-year passer is set to start against the Cardinals, Matt Nagy said Friday. Nick Foles will be Dalton’s backup.
Nagy has said Fields will return to Chicago’s lineup when he’s healthy. The first-rounder logged three practices this week but each came in a limited capacity. This will lead to Dalton making a second straight start.
Sunday will be Dalton’s fourth start this season. Chicago is 2-1 in games Dalton starts, though the team’s Week 2 win over Cincinnati featured Fields replacing an injured Dalton mid-game. Despite being proclaimed the Bears’ season-opening starter throughout the offseason, Dalton did not get his job back upon returning. He eventually returned to the lineup because of a Fields rib injury in Week 11. Foles has not taken a snap this season.
Dalton, 34, sports a 64% completion rate — compared to Fields’ 58% mark — and is coming off a 300-yard game on Thanksgiving, in a narrow Bears win over the Lions. With Fields having progressed to limited work, this might be Dalton’s last chance at auditioning for another gig in 2022. The longtime Bengals QB1’s Bears deal expires at season’s end. Foles’ contract runs through the 2022 season.
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