Nick Foles will start at quarterback for the Chicago Bears on Sunday as Justin Fields continues his recovery from an ankle injury
Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles will start Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field as rookie Justin Fields continues to deal with an ankle injury.
Coach Matt Nagy said earlier in the week that he didn’t think the injury would keep Fields out, but he said Friday that the Bears were putting Fields’ health first in starting Foles instead.
Fields tweaked his ankle in the second quarter of the Bears’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night and played through the injury. He was limited in practice Wednesday but didn’t participate Thursday or Friday, though Nagy said the injury was not getting worse.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “Like we always say, we’re going to always make sure that the player’s health is No. 1. We can’t put the player at risk, no matter who it is. When you do that, it’s easy.”
Nagy said the Bears still were deciding whether Fields would be the backup Sunday or whether rookie quarterback Ryan Willis, who is on the practice squad, would be ready to serve in that role.
Quarterback Andy Dalton returned from the reserve/COVID-19 list and has recovered from a hand injury, Nagy said. But Dalton also is dealing with a groin injury that will keep him out Sunday.
Foles, a 10th-year NFL veteran, hasn’t played in a regular-season game in 2021. He played in nine games with seven starts in 2020, his first season in Chicago after the Bears traded a fourth-round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire him. He threw for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season as the Bears moved back and forth between starting him and Mitch Trubisky.
Foles got all of the first-team reps in practice Friday.
“He really was out there doing a lot of good things, and you can see the timing,” Nagy said. “There are not a lot of teams that in this situation can go to a quarterback like Nick to be able to help you win a football game and feel really good about it. And Nick does that. Nick always stays very involved in meetings, in practice. … With all the experience he has, he can come right on in and have a day like today in red-zone practice and some of the other team periods and look sharp.
“I know he’s a competitor and I know that he understands this a great opportunity for him, too, on a personal level to be able to help our team out and help him out. That’s where in this situation, it ends up being good for us and good for him.”
Along with Dalton, the Bears declared out cornerback Xavier Crawford (concussion), wide receiver/returner Jakeem Grant (concussion) and left tackle Jason Peters (ankle).
Fields, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (foot) and nose tackle Eddie Goldman (finger) are questionable.
The Bears also brought back defensive lineman Bilal Nichols from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Nine players still are on the COVID-19 list: defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, wide receivers Allen Robinson and Isaiah Coulter, safety Tashuan Gipson, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, tight ends Jesse James and Jesper Horsted, inside linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe and running back Ryan Nall.