During the Chicago Bears 34-14 loss on Sunday Night Football to the Los Angeles Rams, we got a glimpse of what the future might hold for rookie quarterback Justin Fields.
Matt Nagy played Fields on five snaps, including the first drive of the game where he completed a 8-yard pass to Marquise Goodwin. Later on in the game, Fields rushed for a touchdown to help cut into the Rams lead. It was his first career score and it was obvious there was more to this package for Fields that the Bears were able to run.
But when will the Bears make the switch fully from Dalton to Fields? It might be at least three more games.
NFL analyst Jay Glazer discussed the topic on a recent Q&A following Week 1 and revealed that the Bears prefer to wait until at least after Week 4. A a similar timeline they had for Mitch Trubisky before they benched Mike Glennon after Week 4 in 2017. You can hear Glazer’s answer right around the 1:30 mark:
It’s just week 1, don’t panic yet!! Welcome back! It's time for the Week 1 edition of #AskGlazer
Where you ask the question and I answer! @NFLonFOX
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) September 13, 2021
If the Bears do start 0-4 and Dalton is struggling, it might be sooner than we think before we get to see Fields. The pressure could eventually be on for Nagy to make the move to go to the rookie especially if his offense continues to struggle.
Dalton wasn’t horrible in Week 1 but he didn’t throw for a touchdown and committed a turnover on the first possession. Chicago didn’t air it out deep either as his longest pass attempt was just 16 yards.
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