Chicago Bears News: No clear timetable on Justin Fields injury

Chicago Bears starting quarterback Justin Fields suffered a dislocated thumb against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and there was not much clarity provided by the team on Monday in regard to the injury.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus met with reporters on Monday and all but indicated that Fields would not start on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders but did not provide a timetable on the quarterback’s return while also keeping the possibility of surgery on the table.

While Eberflus did not rule out surgery, national reporters such as Ian Rapoport downplayed the chances of a procedure.

Though, even with Rapoport’s reporting, it sounds like surgery has not been ruled out but the Bears want to exhaust every effort they can before reaching that point. As for the injury itself, Pro Football Doc provided some input.

That is about the extent of the information that we know regarding Fields and his dislocated thumb. An early recovery likely would be around the three-week mark with a longer recovery likely putting his season in jeopardy.

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields likely will miss multiple weeks as he recovers from dislocated thumb.

In the interim, what we do know is that rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent is the de facto starting quarterback for the Bears moving forward until Fields returns.

While the critics of Fields, both the man and player, will suggest that Bagent provided a spark on Sunday in the team’s loss to the Vikings on Sunday, the fact that the undrafted quarterback had a fumble returned for a touchdown on his opening series; and severely underthrew wide receiver D.J. Moore at the end of a game on a play that resulted in an easy interception should suggest to the intelligent viewer why some think there was a spark provided over Fields.

However, Fields’ injury likely will push the Bears toward making a change at the quarterback position in the off-season. The Bears will be in a position where they likely will have two of the top five picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, if not, the top pick, and that likely means that one of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye will be the next franchise quarterback in the making for a team that has yet to have one.