Justin Fields won't play in Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders as he continues to recover from the dislocated thumb on his throwing hand that he suffered in Week 6's loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The timetable for Fields' recovery will depend on how quickly he can regain a firm grip on the football. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, he won't have surgery. It's just going to take time to heal naturally.
Check out Rapport's quick hit on Fields from Thursday night's NFL Total Access:
From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: The latest on #Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo, #Bears QB Justin Fields, and #Browns QB Deshaun Watson. pic.twitter.com/LITx152Iji
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 19, 2023
The Justin Fields storyline has taken several twists and turns in 2023. It began as an expected breakout season for the third-year former first-round pick. A slow start had members of the local Bears beat jump off the Fields bandwagon, only to jump back on following an eight-touchdown, one-interception stretch of two games in Weeks 4 and 5.
Fields didn't have a great start to Week 6's Vikings game, and unfortunately, it's the last impression fans and media members have of him before the injury. Suddenly, he's a slow processor and no longer the future of the franchise ... again.
It's incredible how quickly we tend to forget his dominant stretches. It's even more astonishing how starved Bears fans are for consistent high-level quarterback play. Any beacon of hope at the position is greeted with open arms, including undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent, who's auditioning to be the savior this weekend against the Raiders.
Bagent should do well. He's an experienced quarterback who's thrown a lot of passes during his college career. He said this week that the Bears' offense is similar to the one he ran at Shepherd University, which has made his transition from Divison II to the NFL relatively smooth.
But it's foolish to think he'll explode onto the scene in Week 7. It's wishful thinking beyond traditional wishful thinking. Bears fans have rightfully hoped -- and expected -- passers like Jay Cutler, Mitch Trubisky, and Fields to erase 100 years of inept quarterback play.
Hoping Bagent is that guy is a bit naive.
But it isn't impossible, right?
Can Bagent be the next Tony Romo, a quarterback who rose from the ranks of the undrafted to become an NFL superstar? Sure. I guess it's possible. But there aren't many other Romos ... besides Romo. Kurt Warner is the greatest of all quarterback anomalies, and while Brock Purdy was one pick away from being undrafted, he did have a productive college career at Iowa State and was at one time considered a fringe first-round pick during his junior season.
The odds are stacked against Bagent being anything more than a stop-gap until Justin Fields' grip on the football is strong enough to make sure his hold of the starting job, and his standing as this team's franchise quarterback, is too.