Bears lose QB Justin Fields, game vs. Vikings

The Bears lost Sunday’s game, and they lost Justin Fields.

The former is nothing new around Halas Hall. The latter might be career-defining for the people put in charge about 18 months ago.

Fields hurt his right hand when he was sacked about five minutes into the second half of Sunday’s 19-13 loss to the NFC North rival Vikings at Soldier Field. He’d scrambled twice on the Bears’ first drive of the second half before getting sacked on third-and-7 by Vikings veteran edge rusher Danielle Hunter.  As Fields was falling, he attempted to throw the ball away. His body weight landed on his own right arm.

Fields, who has survived more grisly hits in his career, immediately winced and went to the injury tent. Minutes later, he walked through the northwest tunnel and toward the Bears locker room. The team called him questionable at first and then, presumably after an X-ray, out for the game.

If Fields can’t return soon, it’s fair to wonder if the Bears will try to race toward the bottom of the NFL. They hold the Panthers’ first-round pick — and they’re the last winless team — as well as their own. This year’s draft has two quarterbacks, USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye, who are considered star prospects. Bears general manager Ryan Poles was in attendance for Williams’ underwhelming showing Saturday night at Notre Dame.

Fields looked like one of the game’s best quarterbacks — albeit against leaky defenses — in the Bears’ last two games. No team in the NFL had more yards than the Bears during that span. But he struggled from the get-go Sunday against the blitz-happy Vikings. He was 6-for-10 for 58 yards and threw an interception when his arm was hit by Hunter late in the first half. The ball floated through the air and was picked by linebacker Jordan Hicks. The Vikings marched down the field and scored to take a 12-6 lead at halftime.

Fields was replaced by Tyson Bagent, the undrafted rookie from Div.II Shepherd University. He was the team’s only option; as the emergency third quarterback, veteran Nathan Peterman could not enter the game unless both the first- and second-stringer were injured.

Bagent, who had never played a regular season snap to that point, had a cruel welcome to the NFL. On his third play, Bagent was sacked by Vikings safety Josh Metellus and fumbled the ball. Hicks scooped it up at the Bears’ 42 and ran up the left sideline for a touchdown.

The Bears trailed 19-6. A somber Soldier Field came to life when Vikings kicker Greg Joseph missed a 57-yard field goal. The Bears sputtered on the ensuing drive, going three-and-out, but were sharp after forcing one of their own. They drove 77 yards, getting five first downs, and Bagent ran for a one-yard score to go down six.

Another three-and-out gave the Bears the ball back. Down six, they moved 41 yards on eight plays before, just seconds before the two-minute warning, Bagent launched a pass toward DJ Moore down the left sideline. It was well short of the receiver, and Byron Murphy Jr. had time to camp beneath it at the Vikings’ 7, intercept the ball and return it 35 yards.

The Bears have now lost 15 of their last 16 games dating to Oct. 25, 2022.