Andy Dalton returned to practice Wednesday, going through the Bears’ workout in a limited capacity. And Matt Nagy has not changed his depth chart at quarterback.
The player the Bears promised would begin the season as their starter will remain so going forward, once he returns to full strength. Dalton suffered a knee contusion in Chicago’s Week 2 win over Cincinnati.
“In regards to the depth chart with them, Andy is the 1, Justin’s the 2, Nick is the 3,” Nagy said of his Dalton-Justin Fields–Nick Foles depth chart (via ESPN.com’s Field Yates, on Twitter).
Although Dalton’s injury moved Fields into the lineup, he trudged through an abysmal day in Cleveland. The No. 11 overall pick took nine sacks and completed 6 of 20 passes. First-round rookies rarely give jobs back after ascending to staring roles; Mitchell Trubisky moved into Chicago’s starting lineup in Week 5 of his rookie year and made every subsequent start in 2017. Fields’ performance may have opened the door for Dalton to stay in the picture. Fields was also uneven in his debut against the Bengals, following Dalton’s injury.
After suffering a right thumb injury, Fields practiced fully Wednesday. Foles is not on Chicago’s injury report but does not appear to have re-entered the equation for a possible starting role. The trade candidate remains in a third-string position to begin his age-32 season.
Nagy also indicated the Bears have had conversations about their play-calling role, though no decision has been made. Chicago ranks last in total yards and 31st in points through three games. Nagy gave OC Bill Lazor play-calling responsibilities amid a swoon last season, and the Bears — albeit against favorable opposition — made a late-season run to reach the playoffs. Nagy took back the play-calling reins this offseason. Lazor was Dalton’s OC in Cincinnati from 2017-18 and his position coach in 2016.
Fans: Nagy is horrible when calling plays.
It’s doesn’t matter who the Bears QB is, the position is cursed. Ownership is lousy, GM and coach are trash. Dumpster fire of a franchise.
100% correct
It may be the right move but it’s not the right guy making the move. The Bears are entrusting the development of yet another potential franchise quarterback to this fool.
The best thing for Fields is to sit if Nagy continues to run the show. No point in getting the Nagy stink all over a young QB.
It doesn’t matter who calls the plays when the offense, The plays, The OC, The Head Coach and the Management all suck. Doesn’t matter who plays QB either because Trubisky and Fields are basically the same guy. I knew after the first 2 series the Game Plan was the worst in the history of the NFL and switched to the Ryder Cup. I’m 65, sick and really don’t need to watch this boring pathetic excuse for an offense.I’m sure I’ll find other interesting things to watch, shouldn’t be hard. Three Stooges reruns, and Dr. Pimple Popper have more imagination.
#FireNagy
#FirePace
If only we could fire the McCaskey family. They will just hire the next trainwreck of a GM and head coach. In 3-5 years we will be calling for the heads of Nagy and Pace’s replacements. Wash, rinse, repeat…
Nagy’s comments since last week’s disaster have been a steaming pile of nonsensical manure. The man couldn’t make an in-game adjustment with a gun to his head and as long as he’s head coach and Pace is GM, they will make zero progress. What a sh$t show.
Fields should not have started. I know a lot of people like him, but he is so far from ready it should have been obvious to his coaches. Nagy is not helping, of course, but Fields just is not close yet. I said before that it will be hard to reinsert Dalton because it will likely be Fields’ team if he started, but I have to amend that statement. Right now, it appears that it’s no one’s team.
Nagy gained a little confidence when Fields was selected because there was a hope that he could produce with a better prospect (at least, a supposedly better one). By throwing an unready Fields into the fire instead of his veteran backup (who for some reason was brought in last year just to be an expensive clipboard holder this year) and producing an inadequate gameplan, Nagy appears to have lost any confidence gained in his abilities this last year.
Dalton will start, and may do well, but it is not likely that he will stay long term, and if he does, it means that that the Fields rebuild failed. That’s not an indictment of Dalton, who may be end up being the best solution in the room. He is not likely going to be a five year plus starter though. It just does not seem like there is any positive direction with this team, and if you cannot have confidence in the coach’s direction, you cannot have confidence in anything organizationally. Foles should have started after Dalton’s injury-to protect Fields, to protect confidence in Nagy (and by extension the team), to protect the Bears’ production, and lastly to justify his place on the team. This was handled incredibly poorly.
I think after nine sacks Fields was definitely in a *staring* role. Like deer-in-headlights/shell-shocked.
This team is a train wreck! Starts with ownership them moves down to the front office then coaches. The Bears aren’t going to win anytime soon
Fields wasn’t ready to play last Sunday. Not surprising, as he thinks he is already a star.