NEWSLETTER
A familiar face could be one moment away from quarterbacking a division rival.
David Fales, a sixth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2014, has been taking reps with the Detroit Lions’ No. 2 offense, tweets The Athletic’s Chris Burke. Fales’ move up the depth chart has slid Tom Savage — the prohibitive favorite to start the year as QB2 – down to the third-string unit. That means Fales, who spent time backing up Jay Cutler with the Bears from 2014-16, could be sitting behind Matthew Stafford in Detroit to start the 2019 season. Trippy!
Or to put it another way: Fales could be one snap away from taking off the baseball cap and putting down the clipboard to enter a game of consequence should he beat out Savage for the No.2 spot. Burke, who covers the Lions for The Athletic, still believes the backup job is “Savage’s to lose.” That makes sense. Savage has more game experience and even some starting experience (albeit just nine games) under his belt. But that ha not kept Fales from making a charge for the job.
Backup quarterback jobs are as difficult to come by as starting gigs, so it should go without saying that Fales has his work cut out for him in Detroit. Fales has bounced around the NFL in recent years, including three stints with the Baltimore Ravens and two tours of duty with the Miami Dolphins. A chance to win a backup job in a division he was once familiar with could be a last-ditch effort to keep his NFL career going. Good luck, guy. You’re going to need it.
