NEWSLETTER
Everyone is trying to figure out when Bears rookie QB Justin Fields will make his first start. Naturally, the guesses are all over the map.
• Kevin Fishbain, Adam Jahns, Dan Pompei, and Jon Greenberg all have their predictions in The Athletic’s latest NFL roundtable.
• Alyssa Barbieri examines which weeks Fields could take over the starting role at Bears Wire .
• Adam Hoge takes an educated guess at NBC Sports Chicago .
• And we found ourselves exploring the most sensible options for starting Fields, ourselves.
Oh, and then there’s this:
I have no clue when Justin Fields starts for #Bears. I've said wk 4 vs Det. However, spoke with an insider who spoke to Nagy directly recently and while Nagy gave no indication of a date ("when he's ready"), insider feels it will be a long wait. He predicted wk 15 vs Min. FWIW
— Bill Zimmerman (@BillTZimmerman) September 8, 2021
Ultimately, it might make the most sense for Fields to start the season as QB2 — and finish that way. I know, I know.
But at The Athletic, Ted Nguyen (The Athletic) uses All-22 images and situational breakdowns to explain why sitting Fields might be best for the QB’s long-term development and he makes some solid points. I encourage you to check it out and remember that Nguyen isn’t being a contrarian take for the sake of it. There are arguments that make sense in either direction, and ideally, this all plays out in a way that allows Fields to cash in on his obvious upside.
But either way, the only person who truly knows what’s next is Matt Nagy. And this seems to be one of those things where you’ll know it’s time when you see it based on how it plays out when Andy Dalton plays games:
Matt Nagy just confirmed that Andy Dalton’s performance will be a big factor in when Justin Fields plays.
“Performance and wins.”
Fields is close. #Bears are committed to giving Dalton a chance to prove himself as the starter in the regular season.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) August 24, 2021
So, in other words, your guess is as good as anyone’s. But I feel as if this is one of those situations you’ll know when it’s time based on what you see on the Field. It’s less of a matter of if and more of a “when” thing. So stay tuned.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.
