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It’s the sight nobody wanted to see: Justin Fields leaving with an injury.
Yet, it’s something that happens in the NFL all the time.
Quarterbacks go down. Not many survive the entire 18-week grind.
We’ve watched the Jets replace Aaron Rodgers after three plays in Week 1, the Colts replace Anthony Richardson twice, the Bengals try to get by with a banged-up Joe Burrow, and the Titans attempt a comeback Sunday after Ryan Tannehill injured his ankle.
The Bears’ moment came during the third quarter of a 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Coach Matt Eberflus did say X-rays were negative and Fields will undergo an MRI on Monday.
So there’s a bit of good news.
The bad, awful, wretched news is your Bears are 1-5 overall, have lost 10 straight at Soldier Field and are 4-19 under Eberflus.
And to think: Heading into Week 6 there was so much optimism after the Bears’ offense lit up the Broncos and Commanders.
Minnesota, which placed all-world WR Justin Jefferson on injured reserve, came in with an identical 1-4 record and was a very beatable opponent. Beat a subpar Raiders squad in Week 7 and suddenly the Bears would have been 3-4 and trending in the right direction.
Of course, that was all in theory.
The harsh reality is there’s almost no way to salvage this season. Since 1990, only 2% of teams that start 1-5 make the playoffs.
In the big picture, let’s hope Fields is OK and can face the Raiders. Fields — although he was having a rough game Sunday — was nonetheless trending in the right direction.
The alternative is likely Tyson Bagent, who was signed as an undrafted free agent and impressed coaches enough that he’s been Fields’ backup since Week 4.
And with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter, the Shepherd University product stepped onto the field with a legit chance to guide the Bears to a victory over the error-prone Vikings.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy made two excellent calls to start Bagent’s first drive. They resulted in a 6-yard pass to Velus Jones Jr. on an out route and a 6-yard run by Darrynton Evans that gave the Bears a first-and-10 on the Vikings’ 48.
With the Bears trailing 12-6, Getsy seemed to understand he needed to shorten the game by running or using quick passes.
But then disaster struck on the next play.
After dropping back, Bagent was under immediate pressure because Evans flat-out missed the charging 6-foot-3, 307-pound Harrison Phillips. Bagent sidestepped that land mine, but fumbled after getting hit from behind by Josh Metellus. Seconds later, Jordan Hicks was running into the end zone to give the Vikings a 19-6 lead.
“A little bit of miscommunication,” Bagent said. “But at the end of the day I’ve got to keep two hands on the ball. I’ve got to protect the ball. That’s a big job of mine when I’m out there.”
The next two drives went nowhere, but then Bagent showed off his arm by hitting D.J. Moore for 18 and 24 yards on back-to-back plays. He finished off that drive with a 1-yard TD run to cut Minnesota’s lead to 19-13.
The Vikings went three-and-out to hand the Bears a golden opportunity to pull off an unlikely victory.
After eight plays — four of which were hard-charging runs by D’Onta Foreman — the Bears had a first down at the Vikings’ 35. The clock was ticking toward the two-minute warning, but instead of taking a moment to gather themselves, the Bears ran another play.
Bagent spotted Moore running 1-on-1 down the left sideline and threw up a wounded duck that was intercepted.
Bagent said he took a chance with a deep ball because Moore is “one of the best receivers in the world. Any time we can get that (look) we like it. Underthrew it a little bit and that’s on me and that’s something I’ve got to fix going forward.”
Tough to blame Bagent here, though. Getsy should have let the clock hit 2:00 to slow the game down, especially with such an inexperienced QB playing in such a high-pressure situation.
Now the clock seems to be ticking on this entire coaching staff. Can they really rely on Bagent to save their jobs?
It won’t come to that if Fields’ injury isn’t serious.
But if it is and the losses keep piling up, you have to think it’s time to start over.
Again.
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