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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears will spend the week watching and waiting as quarterback Justin Fields hopes his left shoulder heals enough so he can start Sunday against the New York Jets.
Fields said his injury was a shoulder separation with ligament damage in the AC joint, and added that he would not have been able to play Wednesday had the game been played then.
“Today probably not, but luckily we’re not playing today; we’re playing in what, four days,” Fields said. “So we’ll see how it feels in four days.”
The injury is to his non-throwing shoulder, but he feels some pain in that shoulder when following through when he throws.
“It’s just a few moves I make with my arm, it hurts,” Fields said.
The Bears only held one practice Wednesday, but Fields received an injury designation to practice on a limited basis. Whether he can play on Sunday depends on his progress over the next two days in training.
“I just feel like if I can play and I don’t increase the risk of injury, you know, I can do what I have to do to protect myself, I think it will be good enough for me to play,” Fields said. .
Fields said he could take a painkiller injection if the shoulder couldn’t be further damaged. He might also need to wear a harness of some type.
“I don’t know what beatings I’m going to take on Sunday, but if my shoulder can (take) those beatings and stuff like that,” he said, “I mean, you really can’t predict if it’s okay get worse or not just depending on what happens.”
He will test it in full on Friday.
“Just practice, pitching a couple days before the game,” Fields said. “And of course I really won’t know how it’s going to be on game day because I’m not about to get shot a few days before the game.”
Fields has never had a shoulder injury before, but recalled he had cracked ribs and a partially torn hip muscle in the national championship game and was still playing for the state. from Ohio two years ago.
“I mean, you get a big game like this, it’s the last game of the year,” Fields said. “I must be almost dead for me not to play in that one.”
Sunday’s game has much lower consequences for the Bears (3-8), who are trying to avoid a five-game losing streak.
The Bears would start Trevor Siemian at quarterback if Fields couldn’t play.
Fields will consult with team medical staff before making a decision.
“I think whenever you hurt something, you always have a chance to make it worse, you know?” said coach Matt Eberflus. “It could be an ankle, a knee or whatever. It’s part of the game, right?”
If called up, Siemian would start against the team he played a game for in 2019.
“Your backup should always be ready,” Eberflus said. “Trevor has been exceptional in meetings. Like I said the other day, he has great functional intelligence to be able to operate the offense, and he knows the offense well.”
NOTES: Eberflus said veteran center/guard Lucas Patrick is done for the season. Patrick is on injured reserve but won’t make it after undergoing toe surgery. He was injured in the Bears’ 33-14 win over New England on Oct. 24. Patrick signed in Chicago as a free agent to play center and entered the field for just 10 snaps at center. He started five games in total, including two at each guard spot, as he underwent hand surgery during training camp. … The Bears’ two rookie defensive backs, safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Kyler Gordon, came out of last week’s loss to Atlanta under concussion protocol.
Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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