Bears Defense Steps Up without Eddie Jackson

Justin Fields' hand injury is a dislocated thumb, according to a report by Fox Sports' Jay Glazer

Glazer reported the thumb was put back into place after it was dislocated and this resulted in the Bears QB not being able to grip the football.

Knowing what it was doesn't really solve the problem facing the Bears, and that is how long Fields will miss. They'll need to see the results of the MRI on Monday to know the exact extent of damage to the thumb.

At that point they'll have a better idea of how much time Fields might miss, if any.

Fields wasn't the only Bears injury on the day. They lost guard Nate Davis to an ankle injury and Ja'Tyre Carter finished up for him at right guard.

Safety Eddie Jackson left the game in the first quarter after aggravating the foot injury that had kept him out of three straight games.

"Could have came back," coach Matt Eberflus said. "Injured his foot a little during the

game. Didn't feel a hundred percent but he could have came back if we needed him through injury."

Instead, Elijah Hicks played safety with Jaquan Brisker and the Bears had their best defensive day of the season after a shaky first half.

They held the Vikings offense without a point in the second half, and the decisive points came on a fumble return by linebacker Jordan Hicks.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, returning from an injury himself, wasn't surprised they were able to hold the Vikings to 181 yards passing despite playing Hicks.

"We've been doing that for for some years now, so I mean just for us just to continue to build, continue to step up in the big moments, continue to execute down the stretch when we need it, but I mean guys come in and step up each and every week," Johnson said.

Johnson said they had to feel good about the defense after playing effectively without Jackson.

"I think we came out there we limited the pass shut off the run," Jackson said.

The Bears followed a season's best 29-yard effort in run defense against Washington and followed iwth 46 yards allowed against the Vikings on the ground. They gave up just total yards and had a best of 2-for-13 on third downs. They also allowed only two second-half first downs.

"I mean overall I think we just want more turnovers but other than that I think we took some good steps," Johnson said. "But again, we got to do more coming off last week's win."

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