Justin Fields will get back to his beginning role at quarterback for the Chicago Bears on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, coach Matt Nagy reported Wednesday.
Fields has missed the Bears’ past two games with an injury to his ribs, however Nagy said Wednesday that the new kid on the rookie has been medically cleared.
Nagy said Fields’ fractured ribs have completely mended.
“This comes down to, for him — like I’ve been saying the whole time — it’s a pain deal that we can’t really simulate. We go off what he says; we go off what our doctors say. When he’s fully cleared like he is, then we’re ready to rock and roll. He’s the starter when he’s healthy, and that’s where we’re at,” Nagy said.
Fields said Wednesday that he can finally relax and is prepared to play.
“I mean, yeah, there’s pain there, but I mean, the pain’s just not unbearable,” Fields told reporters. “I know there’s gonna be pain there but I mean, it is what it is. You have three cracked ribs, of course there’s gonna be pain. As long as it’s just not crazy pain where I can’t bear it, I’m gonna play and practice.”
Andy Dalton began the past two weeks instead of Fields however harmed his non-throwing hand in Sunday’s misfortune to the Arizona Cardinals, a game wherein he threw four interceptions.
Nagy said that the decision to begin Fields did not depend on Dalton’s injury and that he isn’t sure if Dalton or Nick Foles will be the reinforcement to Fields for Sunday’s game.
Fields, the No. 11 pick in the current year’s draft, has finished 58.1% of his pass attempts this season, throwing for 1,361 yards with four touchdowns and eight interceptions in 10 games. He additionally has scrambled for two scores this season.