It sounds like the Justin Fields era is set to begin Sunday as the Chicago Bears rookie quarterback is in line to make his first career NFL start on the road against the Cleveland Browns.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Andy Dalton is considered week-to-week with a bone bruise on his knee. While the Bears haven’t made a final decision about whether or not Dalton will start, it’s hard to believe Dalton will go from week-to-week to ready to play by Sunday.
That puts Fields in line to make his first start on the road against the Browns in Week 3.
While it won’t be Fields’ first action in the regular season — as he took over for an injured Dalton against the Bengals — it’ll mark the first week that Fields gets work as the starter.
#Bears QB Andy Dalton is considered week-to-week with his knee injury. No final decision, but Justin Fields appears to be in line to make his first NFL start Sunday at Cleveland. Meanwhile, another rookie QB gets his first start Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/YMORQbslVY
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 21, 2021
On Monday, Bears head coach Matt Nagy announced — via a PR representative — that Dalton would be the starter if healthy. But with Fields preparing for his first start, the goal is going to be to make him as comfortable as possible, where a game plan catered to his skillset and first-team reps in practice should help.
“We’ve just got to make sure that whatever we put in there, that he knows inside out he can play fast,” Nagy said. “So if there’s more plays that he knows or likes, we’ll get that in there, and he’ll play quarterback the way it’s supposed to be played.
“But we do have to be a little bit careful, and I think probably the biggest thing for us is making sure that he really understands and knows the plays, if [he starts]. . . . The last thing we want is him playing slow, then having to react to the defense.”
