Earlier: Rookie Justin Fields will be the franchise quarterback of the Chicago Bears one day. Just don’t expect it to be Week 1 of the 2021 season.
Since the Bears traded up to draft Fields 11th overall in April, Chicago head coach Matt Nagy has been adamant that veteran free agent signee Andy Dalton will be his starter. Even with Fields reportedly impressing in offseason workouts, Nagy is not deviating from this plan.
Nagy was a guest on a recent episode of “The Cris Collinsworth Podcast” and once again said Dalton will be the guy under center to start the season.
“Andy Dalton is our starter,” Nagy said. “Justin is our number 2 and we are going to stick with this plan. You just got to trust the plan.”
Here’s the link to the podcast: https://t.co/DtQxoemYqF
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) June 15, 2021
Of course, there’s still time for Nagy to change his plan. But for now, he insists Dalton will be the guy when the Bears take on the Rams in Los Angeles on September 12.
We’ll take him at his word for now. Then again, even if Nagy does remain committed to Dalton, we don’t think that devotion will last very long once games start.
The Bears are likely in a rebuilding year, and it doesn’t make sense to keep starting a journeyman quarterback if the team starts to lose a few games.
Update: So, judging by the full quote from Nagy, he actually is leaving a slight bit of wiggle room for Fields to overtake Dalton by Week 1.
Full quote:
“No. I mean Andy is our starter. Again I can’t predict anything. You know how it goes. There’s so many things that can happen between today and Week 1. But Andy is our starter and Justin is our No. 2 and we’re going to stick to this plan.”
Lil less definitive. https://t.co/3DK976YCzb
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) June 15, 2021
Either way, our point stands. Fields will be the Bears’ starter sooner rather than later, even if he isn’t to begin the season.
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