Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields has been medically cleared to return from his ribs injury and will start Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
It will be Fields’ first start since he suffered three cracked ribs in the Nov. 21 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
He said Wednesday he still feels some pain, but it’s not as bad as the pain he felt when he suffered a hip and ribs injury in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Clemson in January while at Ohio State. This time, he went about a week without throwing because of the pain.
“You have three cracked ribs, of course there’s going to be pain,” Fields said. “As long as it’s just not crazy pain where I can’t bear it, I’m going to play and practice.”
Matt Nagy said the Bears still are determining who will be Fields’ backup as Andy Dalton deals with a left hand injury. If Dalton isn’t ready, the Bears would turn to Nick Foles as the No. 2.
Fields said he tried to pick up little details to help his development as he watched Dalton start two games in his place, with the veteran going 1-1.
“Just watch film and just try to see the game from a different perspective,” he said. “Seeing it from the sideline, I definitely think you do, so you can kind of just think of different scenarios and kind of see what the defense is doing. So it was kind of cool just seeing it from a different perspective for a long time.”
Fields said he didn’t know on which play he was injured during the Ravens game, but thought it may have been before his final play. He plans to wear something to protect his ribs Sunday, as he usually does.
“I’m going to have to be smart this upcoming game with not taking as many hits as I usually do,” Fields said.
