NEWSLETTER
When Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus told reporters he’d have more to say about quarterback Justin Fields’ shoulder injury on Wednesday, I was fearing the worst. It is usually a bad sign when coaches kick the can down the road to the middle of the week when discussing injuries. But when Fields spoke with reporters after Eberflus did on Sunday after the loss to the Falcons, it made me feel a bit more optimistic about Fields’ prognosis. At minimum, I thought we might not have to wait until Wednesday to hear an update from the coach.
Instead, we did hear from Coach Eberflus on Monday. But when speaking with the media at Halas Hall, his answering of questions regarding Fields’ status was on par with some Olympic-level word gymnastics:
Oof. You don’t get a much larger discrepancy than what Eberflus just laid out on the table. Going from Fields’ injury being “day-to-day” then to not rule out the injury possibly being a season-ender is wild.
Chris Emma of 670 The Score wonders if it’s gamesmamship from the first-year head coach. And in fairness, part of me wonders the same thing. But there is also a part of me that wonders if it makes sense to shut Fields down to get this injury under control.
The Bears are 3-8 and in last place in the NFC North. They’ve also got the worst record among NFC teams and are getting closer to locking down a top-3 pick than to anything else. Maybe sitting Fields to give him ample time to heal and finish the season on a high note makes sense. After all, the bye week looming in Week 14 gives extra wiggle room for recovery. There might be a temptation to sit Fields for the rest of the year for the sake of preservation. But if this shoulder injury isn’t a season-ender, then Fields should return to action. There are still valuable practice reps and game snaps that could be important to his long-term development. Let me be clear. If Fields is hurt and can’t play, shut him down. But if this is a “season-ending” injury for the sake of anything else, then I’m not vibing with it.
At the end of the day, we’ll stay tuned for any and all updates.
