Tyson Bagent Gets at Least One More Start

There is no hedging on Justin Fields' status from the Bears this week.

Tyson Bagent's chance to start at quarterback continues on the road Sunday against the New Orleans Saints after he lost his second start to the Chargers on Sunday Nifght Football.

"Justin continues to work with the trainers, will still be week to week, but he is improving," coach Matt Eberflus said. "Until he gets back healthy Tyson will be our quarterback for now. So that's where that is."

Because that seems to leave open the chance Fields would return at the end of the week, the Bears coach was asked if it meant Fields would miss the game against the Saints.

"Yeah. He is out against New Orleans. Yes sir," Eberflus said of Fields.

Again the Bears do not want to divulge information about what Fields is able to do since dislocating his thumb against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 15.

"He's progressing, I can just say that," Eberflus said. "I'm not going to get into particulars but he is progressing and he is improving. I can say that. So we like where it is right now."

This all runs contrary some rumors that crept up over the week saying Fields was working to be ready for the Saints game last week. The next game after the Saints game is on a Thursday night at Soldier Field against Carolina and that would add less recovery time than one more normal week would.

Fields could have gone on injured reserve and been out four weeks. So it would seem the Bears are shooting for that Panthers game as a Fields return date because Eberflus was asked if they wouldn't have been better off just putting him on injured reserve, which would have cost him playing against Carolina.

"I would say really, for him, it's a week-to-week thing," Eberflus said. "We're hopeful that he's coming back before that time frame. That's what it was."

The play of Bagent didn't stand out exactly, as he threw two interceptoions and had a 62.0 passer rating. Eberflus had his microscope out, though, and found some silver lining to the loss on the offensive side.

"When you look at that, I thought there was some rhythm and flow at times," he said. "It's just you can't have mistakes. During the two-minute mechanics at the end, I thought there was some good rhythm and flow there. That's what I’m referring to."

The Bears were down 30-7 at the end, so it doesn't seem very relevant.

"Obviously to start the game, there wasn't that," he said. "We got to do a good job of just operating in the moment. We get that explosive play (41 yards to Darnell Mooney) and then we just got to make sure we get ourselves in the kick line (field goal) so that we at least get three and don't take the negative plays."