Chicago Bears HC Matt Eberflus speaks on the quarterback situation
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus watched quarterback Justin Fields sustain a foot injury during the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills on Christmas Eve. Backup quarterback Nathan Peterman relieved Fields on Saturday and promptly threw an interception. It didn’t matter much to the Bears’ playoff chances; they were eliminated weeks ago. Eberflus now needs to decide how much he wants Fields to see NFL regular season game action with a depleted roster.
The Bears have several key pieces of the offense and defense on injured reserve. The Bears were missing their three best wide receivers and three starting offensive linemen against the Bills. Those injuries showed up in a big way as the Bears struggled to amas 209 total yards of offense Saturday.
According to Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic, Eberflus commented on Fields’ status for the rest of the season. Eberflus said he has no plans to bench Fields for his long-term health and confidence as the team is trying to “win.”
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus says there is no plan to shut QB Justin Fields down for the rest of the season and he'll be good to go.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) December 26, 2022
Matt Eberflus says he does see long-term value if the Bears can win the final two games. "We've got to learn how to finish. … To me, that's important going into the future."
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) December 26, 2022
Finish with what? LOL.
The Bears don’t have a roster to finish with. They barely have one to keep games within single digits. This isn’t the first time Matt Eberflus has said he’ll risk Fields to win games. Eberflus is an old-school coach who doesn’t give injury updates before the injury report for fear opponents might have a slight advantage in game preparation.
We’ll see if that coaching style can win games with a better roster. Despite what he said earlier in the season about valuing technique over talent, his first Bears team is 3-12 heading into Week 17. Finishing games this season with a roster that will see high turnover in the offseason won’t matter. Most of the key starters for this roster that will be on the 2023 team aren’t playing again this season.
Matt Eberflus, on Justin Fields:
"If he's ready to play, he's going to play.
"The reason is we're trying to win."
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) November 23, 2022
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