Chicago Bears News: Justin Fields playing final 2 games is positive

In Week 16, the Chicago Bears sustained insult to injury in their 35-13 loss to the AFC-leading Buffalo Bills.

On top of a blowout loss, quarterback Justin Fields came away banged up — again.

It’s been a season full of nicks and bruises for Fields, who is hit often due to the offensive line in front of him and, of course, his playing style which sees him use those legs regularly.

After the loss to Buffalo, Fields came away with pain in his shoulder as well as a foot injury. The shoulder is something he’s dealt with for a few weeks now, though, so it’s nothing new. But, his foot was stepped on in the game against Buffalo and that was a newly sustained bump.

Still, despite being a bit bruised, Fields is going to suit up for the final two games of the season, according to head coach Matt Eberflus — and that’s a good thing.

Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears may not have much to play for, but showing up and showing out is still important.

Sure, the Bears are in line for the number two overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft at the moment. There is even a chance they could end up with the number one overall pick — what a wild scenario that would be.

But, Fields is going to play these remaining two games.

"“He’s good to go,” Eberflus said, per ESPN. “He’s healthy, he’s ready to go for this week.”"

Eberflus went on to say that the reason behind Fields playing, despite a couple of minor injuries, is simple:

"“Because we’ve got to get better. We want to improve. We want to see where we are. These last two games matter. They’re division opponents to us, very important to our football team to see the competition, to see guys compete against our division. I think it’s important for each man, it’s important for each unit and it’s important for our whole football team.”"

…spoken like a competitive man, of course.

Eberflus understands that it’s about the future, at this point. In order to see where the Bears are truly at, heading into an important offseason, these last two games are very important. Now, obviously it would be beneficial for Chicago to lose these games — as weird as that sounds to say.

But, the Bears need to see a few more things out of Fields and other guys, too.

Not to mention, trying to sit Fields would be darn near impossible. That guy is as competitive as they come. You won’t have much luck attempting to “rest” him for the final two games in order not to risk further injury.

Fields wants to play, and knowing the mind of most professional athletes, he also wants to win. That matters. That means something. Despite fans looking at a future with the possibility of a number one overall pick, Fields likely doesn’t care one bit. He wants to win football games. He wants to go out there and compete — and you’ve got to love that.

The Bears have the right coach and the right quarterback in place. That’s what these few quotes tell me. So, let’s sit back and enjoy these final two games with a bright future in mind.