NEWSLETTER
On Saturday morning, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Justin Fields was pushing to play on Sunday against the Jets despite the shoulder injury suffered last weekend. But before he suits up, he’ll have to convince the very top of his organization that it’s a good idea.
“He could play through it. He wants to play through it,” Fowler said of Fields. “I’m told it’s a matter of risking long-term injury. Can they avoid that? And any time you talk about long-term injury, usually they rest the player and don’t play him on the side of caution. I’m told this a decision at the highest levels — GM, team president, like, they’ve gotta make sure he’s good.”
Of course, Fields wants to play through the injury. This is a player who lobbied to play football through a pandemic and performed at a high level during college football playoff games with busted ribs. And remember what Fields said earlier in the week about playing for the guys in that locker room.
Plus, we’re about to flip the calendar to December. Everyone is playing through some sort of injury (whether or not it lands them on the injury report is beside the point). A quarterback like Fields feels responsible for playing through his own issues because 52 other players are doing the same for him.
But there are times when you need someone above the quarterback to pump the brakes. This feels like one of those times. And Poles, having seen Fields cement himself as a leader and a player to build around, should not want his QB taking risks, especially when the word “long-term” is thrown around. These Bears won’t win anything of consequence this year, but there are bigger fish to fry down the line.
You can check out Fowler’s full video report on Fields (and some other injury report updates from around the league) here:
