Keeping Justin Fields Upright Viewed as Critical

The scene had to be scary enough for Bears fans watching who are used to seeing their own running quarterback, let alone Cardinals fans who endured it.

Kyler Murray cut in the open field Monday night against New England and suffered a non-contact knee injury, reported as a likely ACL tear. He left sobbing on the back of a cart.

It's just more evidence of what happens to running quarterbacks. Of course, they don't have to be runners and they can still get sent to the hospital or injured reserve on a sack, but the more carries or more hits, the easier it is to be injured.

Baltimore's Lamar Jackson remains out with knee injury and backup Tyler Huntley was injured on Sunday..

Denver's Russell Wilson suffered a concussion Sunday.

Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett went out with a concussion after a hit by Roquan Smith.

Jets QB Mike White ribs injury and is vowing to play through it, though he had to go to the hospital to be checked out.

Even Brock Purdy, the QB the 49ers brought in to replace injured Jimmy Garoppolo, who was playing for injured Trey Lance, has an injury. He has an oblique but could play through it.

The Bears already went through all of this with Justin Fields' left shoulder separation Nov. 20. It's part of the reason Eberflus said during bye week that the plan going forward is more judicious use of Fields' running.

"I've said from the beginning for several weeks now, we want to be very protective of Justin to make sure he is out of harm's way," Eberflus said. "That is either being smart by him working to the sideline, working out of bounds, sliding correctly. Or things like that, different designs that we might give our halfback, or you saw we did the thing (vs. Green Bay ) to Velus (Jones) where Velus had a toss sweep and all that."

The idea is to preserve Fields for critical scrambles or special situations.

"You know, red zone, third down, two-minute, when the game is there where it needs to be to keep drives a live and score points," Eberflus said.

It's why Fields had a season-low six carries against Green Bay.

However, it's easier said than done when going against defenses like the Bears face the next two weeks—Philadelphia and Buffalo. Those third-and-longs with no receivers open tend to happen a great deal more often against better defenses like those teams have.

Better pass blocking has helped in this regard and must continue.

"We knew we had to get better across the board, really, and there were still ones that we could've had back," center Sam Mustipher said of the game with Green Bay, afer they kept Fields from being sacked.

Facing Philadelphia's defensive front won't make keeping Field safe easy whether he runs or not.

"I mean, it's the deepest unit in the NFL, for sure, in terms of talent and then in terms of experience," Mustipher said.

QBs Starts Missed with Injuries

Through Week 14

Justin Fields, Bears, 1 (shoulder)

Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins 2 (concussion)

Zach Wilson, Jets, 3 (knee)

Mac Jones, Patriots, 3 (ankle)

Lamar Jackson, Ravens, 1 (knee)

Ryan Tannehill, Titans, 2 (ankle)

Matt Ryan, Colts, 2 (shoulder)

Russell Wilson, Broncos, 1 (hamstring)

Dak Prescott, Cowboys, 5 (thumb)

Carson Wentz, Commanders, 6 (finger)

P.J. Walker, Panthers, 2 (ankle)

Jameis Winston, Saints, 8 (back)

Trey Lance, 49ers, 11 (ankle)

Jimmy Garoppolo, 1 (foot)

Matthew Stafford, Rams, 4 (spine)

New Starting QB Injuries

Suffered in Week 14

Brock Purdy, 49ers (oblique)

Kyler Murray, Cardinals (knee)

Russell Wilson, Broncos (concussion)

Kenny Pickett, Steelers (concussion)

Mike White, Jets (ribs)

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