Bears Will Give Starters a Look

Unlike many teams, the Bears will take a look at starters in the opener including Justin Fields.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields will play against the Tennessee Titans in Saturday's preseason opener.

How much time he and the first team offense and defense see might vary according to individual said coach Matt Eberflus, who still was to finalize the plans on Wednesday after practice.

He has clear goals for what he wants from Fields.

"I would just say when you're looking at the quarterback position, you know, the operation No. 1," Eberflus said. "Can we get in and out of the huddle crisp and, you know, execute the play if we have any run to pass or pass to pass, run to run stuff going on.

"We gotta make sure we look at that. Can he made all the protection calls that he needs to make? Make the adjustments. Just the operation. That's what we're looking for."

With so many players injured right now, including starting guards Nate Davis and Lucas Patrick, it might be questionable how wise it would be sending the starting quarterback out with the first team in a preseason game.

"You're always mindful of that certainly with your starting quarterback, you know, who's aligned in front of him? You're always mindful of that," Eberflus said. "And what types of plays. So, we're always discussing that.

"He's gotta be in there in playing."

How long starters will play could be by the group.

"It's usually a range," Eberflus said. "Usually I'll tell guys, 'Hey, it's seven to 10 plays, He's going 12 to 15 plays.' So, you can have a little flexibility there based on the way the drive is going, you know, for that particular guy. That's what we'll do."

One thing they do need to continue working at was apparent at practice and that is cadence. The offense moved four times in practice and got flagged Wednesday, not to mention a holding and offensive DPI flag against Chase Claypool.

Eberflus couldn't say this was the fault of Fields.

"I would have to take it individualized, but some of that, some of that, because when you're changing them up and really trying to do a good job with the cadence, that's gonna happen," he said.

Matt Nagy had kept Mitchell Tribusky from playing at all one preseason and limited him in another.

Eberflus wouldn't rule something like that out in the future but made it apparent Fields and the team are not in that type of situation.

They need the play reps.

"I just think you gauge it year by year," Eberflus said. "And you make an educated decision based on what your offensive coordinator's saying to you and what your quarterback coach is saying to you and whaat you see with your eyes as the head football coach. And you just take in all the information and make a decision. And that's the decision we made."

As for Fields and running backs playing behind a makeshift offensive line, left tackle Braxton Jones thinks they've begun to turn into a cohesive group regardless of which group is on the field.

"So I feel like everybody is starting to dial in lately," Jones said. "I feel like we've had better days in the last few days with camp just as an O-line and everything like that.

"But I can only speak for myself so much with everything going on. I mean, right now I would say we're definitely ahead of where we want to be but we've still got a far way to go in terms of Week 1 with Green Bay."

These throws are insane. Anyone that says Justin Fields can’t throw a football should be admitted to a mental institution. pic.twitter.com/JVy9DUFJyE

— illwill (@79illwill) August 9, 2023

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