The Chicago Bears held a lightweight apply Wednesday afternoon, a walk-through of types however with sufficient work that quarterback Justin Fields was in a position to check his injured left shoulder. The workforce’s medical employees cleared Fields to take part, however he nonetheless felt noticeable ache as he continued working by means of what he mentioned was a separation of the shoulder with {a partially} torn ligament.
Fields indicated he felt discomfort throwing and handing the ball off throughout apply. “The pain is pretty high,” he mentioned.
If the Bears needed to face the New York Jets on Wednesday, Fields mentioned he wouldn’t have performed.
“But good thing we don’t play today,” he added. “We play in four days. So we’ll see how it feels in four days.”
That’s excellent news for the Bears. Unless it isn’t.
Suddenly the workforce finds itself with a giant choice, weighing the risk-reward proposition of placing their franchise quarterback on the sphere with a major harm to his non-throwing shoulder.
As the week strikes ahead, this can develop into a difficulty of energy and ache tolerance, the latter of which Fields not often has points with. He famous Wednesday that essentially the most ache he has performed by means of got here in the course of the nationwide championship recreation in January 2021, when whereas with Ohio State he performed with cracked ribs and {a partially} torn hip muscle.
“That’s the last game of the year,” Fields mentioned. “I’ve got to damn near die to not play in that one.”
Fields was reminded, although, that his 3-8 Bears gained’t be taking part in for a championship Sunday in opposition to the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
“Yeah, for sure,” he mentioned. “Again, it’s just seeing how I feel, seeing if I can protect myself or not and just playing it by ear.”
To that finish, coach Matt Eberflus emphasised the Bears wouldn’t be reckless with no matter ultimate choice they make on Fields’ taking part in standing. “He’s got to be full-go, ready to do everything,” Eberflus mentioned.
At the identical time, the Bears can have lots to type by means of. Fields is already pushing to play, and his coach wouldn’t thoughts having him on the market in opposition to the Jets, notably after Fields has accounted for 15 touchdowns over the past 5 video games.
“If he’s ready to play, he’s going to play,” Eberflus mentioned. “He feels that way; we feel that way. If he’s ready to go and feels good about it, he’s going to play the game. … We’re trying to win. We want to win. There are a lot of great things to getting the experience of playing a game, every single game we can. That’s an important part to this season.”
Added Fields: “Coach Flus pretty much said it was up to me. They want the best thing for me. So he said if I feel I can play, if I feel that I can go out there and protect myself, then I’ll be able to go. I’m just going to see how it feels each and every day and play it by ear.”
Bears basic supervisor Ryan Poles, although, is for certain to have important affect within the workforce’s ultimate name.
Eberflus understands Poles should stay cognizant of prioritizing the Bears’ long-term finest pursuits over short-term aggressive wishes. Thus the interior discussions at Halas Hall within the coming days will probably be essential because the teaching employees and entrance workplace work to get or stay on the identical web page.
Eberflus was requested what would occur if his needs for Fields to play this weekend had been in battle with Poles’ greater image view.
“There’s a big argument then,” Eberflus mentioned with amusing “We have disagreements like that sometimes and we would just have to put our heads together and make a common-sense decision.”
Smart cash says the workforce will err on the facet of warning if Fields is considerably restricted or deemed to be weak in any style.
“We’ll see where it goes,” Eberflus mentioned. “We’ll see. (Thursday) will be more of a faster-paced (practice). We’ll see when he’s moving full speed during that time and during our drill work. We’ll be able to tell.”
Fields injured his left shoulder on the primary play of the Bears’ ultimate drive Sunday in Atlanta, touchdown awkwardly when tackled close to the sideline by Falcons cornerback Dee Alford on the finish of a 1-yard run. Fields performed the ultimate two snaps after that harm however threw an interception that sealed the Bears’ 27-24 loss.
If Fields isn’t in a position to play Sunday, backup Trevor Siemian will begin in opposition to the Jets. Ideally the Bears would like to get Siemian first-team reps working their offense in apply if that’s the route they sense issues are heading.
“That’s an important piece to it for sure,” Eberflus mentioned. “Your backup always has to be ready. Trevor has been outstanding in the meetings. He has great functional intelligence to be able to operate the offense. And he’s familiar with the offense.”
Eberflus acknowledged Fields’ psychological and bodily toughness plus his aggressive want might complicate the workforce’s evaluations.
“Once the player says, ‘Yes, I’m good to go,’ the last hurdle is, because of who this guy is, is he really, truly ready to go?” Eberflus mentioned. “Can he go full speed? Can he operate? That’s up to the player and the coaches’ eye.”
On Wednesday, Fields was ahead in expressing the ache he was feeling whereas passing. “I’m feeling it pretty much every throw,” he mentioned.
Now, as he pushes to regain energy and speed up his restoration, he is also working to see how he can compensate for his new limitations in his left shoulder.
“I’m just going to work throughout the week to get that motion down, try to get that pain down a little bit and see what happens Friday night and Saturday,” Fields mentioned. “We’ll see how it goes.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com