Chicago Bears Name Former Ohio State Quarterback Justin Fields Starter Moving Foward

The first-round pick started the last two weeks in place of injured veteran Andy Dalton.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Oct 6, 2021 2:35 PM EDT

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy announced on Wednesday afternoon that former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields will be the team’s starting quarterback moving forward.

“He's done everything to show us that he's ready for this opportunity,” Nagy said during his weekly press conference. “After this past weekend and the growth we saw with Justin, the discussions we had were to go in this direction.”

Fields, the No. 11 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, has started the last two games in place of veteran Andy Dalton, who suffered a knee injury in Week 2.

He struggled in his first start against the Cleveland Browns, as he completed just 6-of-20 passes for 68 yards and was sacked nine times in a 26-6 loss, but bounced back by completing 11-of-17 passes for 209 yards in a 24-14 victory over the Detroit Lions this past Sunday.

“We've been patient with this. We’ve grown with him. We’re proud of Justin,” Nagy said. “He's been a great teammate from the very beginning. The plan and the process that we had going into this was important for to understand, and then when Andy unfortunately got hurt with his knee, that sped the process up.”

In four total games this season, Fields has completed 25-of-52 passes for 347 yards and two interceptions. He’ll look for his first career touchdown pass when the Bears travel to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders this Sunday, with kickoff set for 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

“This is Justin’s time,” Nagy said. “We’re so confident moving forward with that. He’s earned it.”

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