Week 12 Preview: Bears Carry Extra Baggage On Return Trip To Meadowlands
Following the loss at Atlanta, the Bears may take on the Jets without Justin Fields
Don’t ask Chicago Bears fans how last Sunday went and expect the final score to be the first detail you get.
Whether they won or lost would be irrelevant. What was relevant, and what remains most relevant regarding the Bears, is the availability of emerging franchise quarterback Justin Fields.
While dragged down by Falcons corner back Dee Alford on his way out of bounds late in the 27-24 loss at Atlanta, Fields suffered what has since been disclosed as a dislocation to his non-throwing (left) shoulder that also featured partial ligament tears.
As the Bears settled in with the loss, in which a late Younghoe Koo field goal was the difference, any attention given to the overall effort was drowned out by what is to be of Fields.
Spare updates have occurred in the days since and the odds are of this writing that Chicago won’t see its newest football hero perform against the AFC playoff-hopeful New York Jets (6-4), who are in the middle of a quarterback controversy that belies their winning record.
Meanwhile, the losing Bears (3-8) are confident in who their guy is and that confidence underscores the likely kid gloves they’ll apply to Fields for the remainder of this week.
Lose-Lose Situation
Against the Falcons, the Bears were once again able to build a lead in a game which they eventually lost.
After a 4-yard touchdown run by Justin Fields in the second quarter, the Bears took a 17-7 advantage, the score was part of another stellar ground effort (85 yards rushing) from the Bears’ speedy quarterback, who also threw for 153 passing yards while completing 14 of 21 passes.
Unfortunately, Chicago’s defense was unable to keep control of things against Atlanta’s similar offense, which benefited from big runs from former Bear Cordarelle Patterson and their mobile quarterback, Marcus Mariota.
The development with Fields certainly made matters worse, the visuals in the moment could make one fear for Fields in the context of the rest of this season as he was being carted off the field of play. But since then Fields has once again shown his resilience, and a bit of humor.
“Good thing we don’t play today,” Fields said at Wednesday's press conference.
On Friday, head coach Matt Eberflus stated that Fields is a game-time decision for Sunday’s kickoff.
“I think he is getting better,” Eberflus said.
Big Apple Shake Up
While the Bears deal with an injured quarterback, their next opponent, the New York Jets, seem to be dealing with a disgruntled one.
The Jets’ Week 11 loss is one of the more heartbreaking losses you’ll see. After a day-long featuring weak offenses and strong defenses, the game was knotted up at 3-3 and looking bound for overtime when New York punter Nick Folk sent the ball to New England Patriots rookie Marcus Jones after another failed Jets drive.
Jones would return the kick for an 84-yard touchdown in exhilarating fashion, saving the Pats any further embarrassment while sinking the Jets into the beginning of its controversy to come.
Zach Wilson, selected No. 2 overall in the 2021 draft — nine spots before Fields —, had arguably his most underwhelming performance to date against New England, throwing for only 77 yards on 9 of 22 throws. While asked about the performance in the post-game conference, Wilson gave a declarative “no” when asked if he thought he left his team down after the 10-3 defeat.
The clip of the petulant Wilson immediately went viral and reaction to it from fans and media featured a hefty amount of criticism regarding Wilson’s lack of accountability.
Wilson has since apologized for his behavior but it didn’t keep him from escaping his fate, which came on Wednesday as Jets coach Robert Salah announced that the team benched Wilson for the Bears game in favor of 27-year-old backup Mike White.
“It was the only thing I could think of the last couple of days,” Wilson said at his Wednesday presser.
“I wanted the opportunity to talk to those guys and really make it from the heart.”
Week 12 Preview
With that decision by the Jets head coach, and the injury to Fields, it looks like we might be heading toward a battle of backup signal callers.
For a team that has scored at least 24 points in its last five games, that is the last thing the Bears want to hear, especially when they are going up against an impressive Jets defense that has held teams to 18.6 points per game, good for 9th in the NFL.
If Fields is not able to go, the Bears backup — Northwestern product and six-year veteran Trevor Siemian — will get the call. Siemian started sparingly in his last stint with New Orleans, his last start came in a 31-6 loss to Buffalo, just over a year ago in November 2021.
Without Fields and running back Khalil Herbert, who is in his second week on the IR, the Bears will rely more on tailback David Montgomery, who is coming off a 67 yard rushing performance against the Falcons.
As for the home team, the Jets will march out the second-year pro White, who has managed to start three games in his first two seasons.
In White’s last start, from November of last year, White threw four interceptions in the Jets’ 45-17 defeat to — guess who — the Bills.
Both of these teams will face challenges offensively this week and it will be fascinating to watch how these two quarterbacks, each with a lot to prove, react to the moment.
Siemian was asked on Friday at Halas Hall about the possibility of him playing. His response being pretty much what you’d expect from a career back-up.
“If I got to play, I’ll be ready to go.”
The Bears and Jets kick off Sunday at Noon in New Jersey.
Bear Tracks
Players deemed OUT for Sunday include the dynamic first year defensive back duo of safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and corner back Kyler Gordan (concussion).
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Saul Rodriguez is WARR Media’s associate producer and lead Bears reporter