New-Look Andy Dalton for Finale
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Andy Dalton showed up for his Friday press conference over Zoom minus the red beard he had all season.
"New look. New Year. Decided to shave it and so starting fresh," Dalton said.
If only the Bears' and Dalton's seasons could start over with the flick of a razor.
Dalton will start the final game of the season with Justin Fields on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Coach Matt Nagy didn't talk to media when it was announced Fields went on the reserve list Thursday, but addressed it after Friday's final practice of the season.
"You can't predict any of these COVID situations," Nagy said. "It's what we're all dealing with right now, everywhere. Finding out when we did with Justin, it's a part of this deal.
"Justin was super eager to get out. He had a great day of practice (Wednesday) and this is a part of how it goes. So we just gotta be able to react to it and that's why we feel good about having Andy and Nick here. It's a credit, too, to Andy, always being prepared and ready and so he had a good day (Thursday), a good day today, so that’s where we’re at with that heading into the game."
Dalton was supposed to be the starter and Fields the apprentice in training.
Instead, something happened and there are variations as to what it was depending on who did the reporting, so Dalton became a backup after a bone bruise to his knee on a non-contract scramble against Cincinnati in Week 2.
"It's been up and down," Dalton said. "There's been a lot that's gone on and a lot of things that have been unexpected at times but you know, it's kind of just one of those things that you have to learn and grow from each experience that you have and that's kind of just where I'm at."
Dalton has no problem acknowledging he has gone back and replayed the situation in his mind, wondering what could have been.
"Yeah I think about that all the time," he said. "It's unfortunate how the whole injury happened and everything, not really getting touched. Things shifted from that point forward."
Fields came in, finished and played the next two games, performing well enough against Detroit to be named the team's starter going forward. And it was there where questions remain. Hub Arkush of Shaw Newspapers reported George McCaskey intervened and told them to start Fields from now on, while coach Matt Nagy said it never happened that way.
Either way, it's been a series of Fields starts, Fields injuries, Dalton injuries and sporadic starts for Dalton, with even one in a 25-24 win over Seattle by Nick Foles.
The lack of continuity didn't help performances, said Dalton.
"Well, I mean, I think that's the biggest thing, what you're saying, you start a couple games, you're not playing and you get back in," Dalton said, acknowledging the difficulty of getting on the same page with receivers. "You know, we were able to have a good win last week.
"That's two in a row. Nick got one. I got one. So hopefully we can go back and find a way to finish this year off the right way and get another one (Sunday)."
After that game, Dalton says it's anyone's guess where he'll be next year. He is a free agent. The Bears could have a different coach. Dalton can't say he'd come back and who could blame him? He said from the beginning he had been told he was the starter this year and that lasted for two games.
"There's a lot that's going to go on after this game and I went through free agency last year," Dalton said. "Really, it was the first time for me to go through it at the beginning of free agency. And so I kind of have that experience.
"So I'll be doing the same thing and will be looking at all of the options that I have and pick the best one that there's going to be for me and my family and everything. So we'll see how this whole thing shakes out after this week."
Dalton has won three of his five starts and then his only start. So the veterans have a winning record as starters while Fields is 2-8.
Nagy's plan was to win games and obvious—although he didn't say it this way—save his job with the veteran QB while bringing along a rookie the way the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes as a rookie during the Bears coach's last year with Kansas City.
It didn't work out that way, but it has to lead to speculation about what could have happened had Dalton never suffered the bone bruise in the Week 2 win over his old team, the Bengals.
"I may not understand why it happened or when it happened and all that kind of stuff but I know I can trust that there's good that's come from it," Dalton said.
It's probably safe to say Nagy would have difficulty agreeing, although in the long run the games Fields played as a rookie could ultimately be of benefit.
Nagy isn't about to acknowledge playing a rookie had to mean defeats, anyway.
"The Plan B was to be able to react and to help Justin out if he was ready, and he was," Nagy said. "For that level where he was, he was ready. And we did that.
"It's not one person. I don't think the 4-2 with Andy and Nick vs. the record that you said with Justin is because of the quarterback position. I think more so than anything it's a team deal."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
