The Chicago Bears' 2023 season is officially over. Now 1-5 and with an injured Justin Fields, there's no hope remaining in a Bears team that began the year with so much of it.
Any conversation about Chicago's 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday has to begin with Fields. He left the game in the third quarter with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand; we don't know how long the injury will keep him out. Fields will undergo an MRI on Monday, and the Bears are expected to provide an update soon thereafter.
At this point, would anyone be surprised if the Bears keep Fields on ice for at least a few weeks, even if the injury doesn't require it?
Fields completed 6-of-10 passes for 58 yards and an interception before being knocked out of the game. He ran for an additional 46 yards on eight carries.
Justin Fields was sacked five times. He was hit on eight of his dropbacks. It is and has been an unsustainable collision rate, even for a player like Fields, who's 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds.
The Chicago Bears are lucky Fields only has a dislocated thumb. The fact he's still standing after two seasons of physical abuse is remarkable. But all of those hits, even if they haven't forced him out of the lineup for long, can stunt quarterback development. And while Fields did enjoy two of the best games of his career in Weeks 4 and 5, Sunday's loss to the Vikings created more questions than answers about his future in Chicago.
Enter undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent, who, if he plays on a level even close to what Fields has over the last few seasons, the calls for the Bears to use their first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on a quarterback will be deafening.
Bagent entered the game in the third quarter and completed 10-of-14 passes for 83 yards and an interception. He fumbled on a sack that the Vikings returned for a touchdown. Aside from the turnovers, Bagent looked comfortable on an NFL field, and if Justin Fields is out for a while, he'll have an unimaginable opportunity to prove he belongs in the Bears' quarterback conversation.
That Chicago Bears quarterback conversation will center around the 2024 draft, which, if held today, GM Ryan Poles would be on the clock with the first overall pick. USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the leader in the clubhouse to be the first selection, no matter which team has it; he's that rare of a quarterback prospect.
If Fields misses a few weeks, or even if he returns but doesn't play at a consistently high level, 2024 mock drafts will write themselves.
Bagent, meanwhile, can potentially help the Chicago Bears make the difficult decision to move on from Fields. If he plays well and proves that the offense has rhythm and timing, if it's led by a quarterback who plays with rhythm and timing, Poles will have the evidence he needs in the case against Fields. It's not that Bagent can necessarily establish that he is the future at quarterback; instead, he can help the Bears comfortably move on from Fields because of how effective the offense is without him.
Do I think that will happen? Not really. I think the Bears are in for a much more difficult decision. The answer won't be gifted to them through impressive play by Bagent in a suddenly energized offense. Instead, the 2023 season will be more of the same. Some good moments followed by some bad, with Fields headlining both outcomes. It'll be frustrating for the fans to watch (and read about the day after the game).
Chicago Bears fans are used to this, even if 2023 stings a little more. It wasn't fun when Mitch Trubisky failed, but if we're being honest, Trubisky always felt like a cursed draft pick. The Bears were mocked for trading up to select him. He entered the NFL as a relative unknown with a short college resume. And there would always be the shadow of Patrick Mahomes looming overhead.
Fields was a different prospect. He had pedigree; he's always been the QB1. He succeeded at the highest level of college football for multiple seasons and entered the NFL with the blend of traits that make up the new prototype in the modern passing game. Maybe Bears fans should've known better, but there was a sense of confidence that Fields would break the Chicago quarterback curse.
And maybe he still will. The book on Fields is far from written, even if local beat writers treat every throw like it's his final chapter. He's still a young quarterback, and his supporting cast -- namely the coaches -- is among the worst in the NFL. It's becoming more difficult to believe he is the future as that future keeps turning into the present, but he still has time to develop into the best version of himself, especially if it's under the watchful eye of a young and innovative offensive-minded head coach.
Unfortunately, time isn't on his side to become that guy in Chicago. Eleven games remain in a season that began as already being critical in his evaluation. And it's these 11 games that will determine if he's a Bear in 2024 and beyond.
Hopefully, Justin Fields can play through his thumb injury and put 11 positive games on tape. Maybe he leads the Bears to some improbable victories and restores faith in his ability to be the leader of this team for as long as he's healthy.
But we're at the point in Fields' tenure that we're left to rely on hope. And that's never good, as the Chicago Bears proved in Week 6.