Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields isn’t focused on proving himself over the final seven games of the season — though it will be necessary to do that as team leadership charts its future.
Fields’ purpose is narrower as he prepares to make his first start in more than a month Sunday against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
“Just go out there and win games,” Fields said Wednesday after practice at Halas Hall. “I’m not here to prove anything to anybody. I’m playing for my teammates, I’m playing for the coaches and that’s it. Everything else will take care of itself.
“So I’m not necessarily trying to prove anything to anybody. Just go out there with my brothers and perform.”
Bears coach Matt Eberflus announced before practice that the Bears plan to start Fields on Sunday, saying Fields is “progressing well” from the dislocated right thumb that kept him out of four games.
Fields practiced in full Wednesday for the first time since suffering the injury Oct. 15 in the third quarter of a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He wore tape on his thumb after deciding in earlier practices he didn’t feel comfortable playing with a glove.
Asked if he still feels pain in his hand, he said it’s not 100%.
“But it feels good,” he said. “There’s still a little bit of healing left. But it’s stable.”
Fields said he doesn’t think ball security will be an issue with the injury, noting he wouldn’t be playing if it was. But protecting the football is a major focus.
He will return against a Lions defense that ranks ninth overall with 310.7 yards allowed per game but 20th with 231.6 passing yards allowed per game. The Lions have 21 sacks and 11 takeaways, including eight interceptions.
“If my hand gets hurt in the process, as far as the ball’s protected, that’s all that matters,” he said. “But I’m not really out there thinking about my hand. If I was (thinking about it) out there, it’s like a mental block. There’s no mental block with my thumb and playing normal football.”
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While Fields might not be taking the big-picture view of the rest of his third NFL season, it’s a critical time for evaluation for general manager Ryan Poles, Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy as they plot the team’s future at the position. The Bears must decide if they want to move forward with Fields or draft another quarterback — or both.
Fields had good and bad performances in the six games he played before he was injured. He completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,201 yards with 11 touchdowns, six interceptions, 24 sacks and a 96.1 passer rating.
The high came against the Washington Commanders in Week 5, when he threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers.
“I think seven weeks is enough time to show consistency and (be) the high performer that we expect him to be,” Eberflus said. “I know he’s had some good performances this year. Certainly the last few have been solid. We expect consistency out of all our positions.”
Fields said the four games away were the most he has missed since breaking two fingers his senior year of high school and missing about the same amount of time.
But Fields made it his mission to be the same leader even as rookie Tyson Bagent took over as the starter, going 2-2. He wrote Bagent extra notes on scouting reports of defenders. And he tried to gain a different perspective watching from the sideline.
During the Bears’ Sunday night game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 29, Fields tried to play the game in his head — until he got a call from the coaches’ box letting him know the broadcast cameras showed him calling the plays.
“So I had to stop doing that,” he said. “But (it was) just seeing the game from a different perspective. … Definitely just seeing why (Getsy) is calling certain plays. There were a few times where I wanted to ask him, ‘What were you thinking on this play? What was your mindset? What was your goal to call on this play?’
“But I didn’t want to mess with his mojo because he’s locked in on game day. I think I tried to talk to him one time and, I mean, he’s so locked in he didn’t even hear me. But, yeah, definitely seeing the game from a different perspective and just the bigger picture.”
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Fields’ return closes an up-and-down turn for Bagent, who completed 65.7% of his passes for 859 yards with three touchdowns, six interceptions, five sacks and a 71.4 passer rating.
Eberflus said Fields was professional and supportive of Bagent while working back from the injury.
“That was very beneficial for Tyson to have that support because you can feel him being genuine about that support and really helpful,” Eberflus said. “He has always been a great teammate, always been one of the hardest workers. He was engaged in all those game plans to be helpful and to be supportive.”
Fields said he heard the outside chatter about a potential quarterback controversy during Bagent’s highs and lows — and he wasn’t surprised.
“That’s the world we live in nowadays,” Fields said. “Everybody wants to cause a stir, cause media attention, boom, boom, boom, comments, stories. So that’s just what comes with it.
“I knew that was going to happen from the get-go. So it came to me as no surprise. I was coming in the building every day being the same guy I was before I was hurt. Just trying to be the best leader I can be.”
Now the Bears will see if Fields can resume that leadership on the field.
“It just starts with Sunday and just taking this day by day,” Fields said. “That’s my focus right now.”
Offensive lineman Nate Davis, who had an ankle injury, returned to practice in full and will resume his place at right guard, bumping Teven Jenkins back to left guard, Eberflus said.
Fullback Khari Blasingame (concussion) and cornerback Terell Smith (mononucleosis) also returned to full practice after absences.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (knee) did not practice, and running backs D’Onta Foreman (ankle) and Khalil Herbert (ankle/shin) and linebacker Jack Sanborn (ankle) were limited.