Matt Barkley does ‘about as well as he could’ in relief of Hoyer

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears’ quest to turn offensive yards into touchdowns become even more problematic with injuries to quarterback Brian Hoyer and Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long in a 26-10 loss to the Packers on Thursday night at Lambeau Field.

Long could have returned “in emergency only,” coach John Fox said. But Hoyer suffered a broken left arm when he was hit and driven to the ground by Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews on a third-and-six incompletion with 10:21 left in the second quarter. Hoyer had completed completed 4-of-11 passes for 49 yards and the Bears trailed 3-0 at the time of his injury.

Third-string quarterback Matt Barkley — who had not thrown a pass in a regular-season NFL game since 2014 with the Eagles — replaced Hoyer on the next series. He drove the Bears for a field goal on his first drive, but struggled to get anything going after that. He completed 6-of-11 passes for 81 yards and was intercepted twice for an 18.3 passer rating.

“Anytime you lose your starting quarterback it can be disruptive — that’s not an excuse, it’s just reality,” Fox said. “[Barkley] hasn’t been with us that long to begin with. He’s been learning the offense. He doesn’t get all the starter reps, like most back-up quarterbacks in this league. We had a couple of change-ups in our line. All in all, I think he hung in there and did about as well as he could.”

With Hoyer out, Fox gave no indication whether Jay Cutler would be able to start in the Bears’ next game, against the unbeaten and NFC North-leading Vikings on Oct. 31 at Soldier Field. Cutler has missed the last five games since suffering a sprained thumb against the Eagles in Week 2.

“We’re waiting on the medical people,” Fox said. “When he’s cleared medically, we’ll have him out there. When exactly that’s going to be, I can’t answer that. But he’s getting closer.”

Barkley was playing substantially for the first time since Oct. 27, 2013 — when he completed 17-of-26 passes for 158 yards, no touchdowns and one interception as a replacement for injured starter Michael Vick in the Eagles’ 15-7 loss to the Giants.

“You want to say it’s tough, but I don’t like to think of that, because that’s making an excuse,” Barkley said. “I felt prepared coming into this game, especially on paper knowing what we were doing, Xs-and-Os-wise. I told them not to hold back anything with the game plan when I went in and I think they held true to that.

“But coming in throwing to guys you haven’t repped with was the biggest thing I had to get adjusted to real quick. But besides that, I thought we moved the ball well at times, but we also shot ourselves in the foot. Sometimes the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”

Though the Bears took the lead in the third quarter, Barkley never had the ball with the lead — after Leonard Floyd’s strip-sack of Aaron Rodgers and fumble recovery in the end zone gave the Bears a 10-6 lead, Rodgers drove the Packers 85 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown to give the Packers a 13-10 lead.

On the Bears’ ensuing possession, a sack and two penalties put Barkley in a third-and-29 situation and all the Bears could do was run Jordan Howard for 11 yards up the middle and punt. Rodgers drove the Packers 88 yards in eight plays for a touchdown that gave the Packers a 20-10 lead, and that was about all she wrote.

But Barkley was encouraged by opportunities, even if most were missed. He overthrew Alshon Jeffery on a deep ball, and had another intended for tight end Zach Miller that was deflected and intercepted.

“There were definitely a few I’d like to have back,” Barkley said. “That throw to Al [Alshon Jeffery], just giving him a chance no matter if you felt like he got held or not — just put it up there for a guy like that. Little things like that — I know my teammates. I know Al. But in that game situation, just knowing to give him a chance is something that just kind of comes.

A few other throws — to Zach [Miller] that was a little high. Even the tipped ball [that was intercepted] I wish I could have back. But we’ll get better. I don’t know what’s going to happen these next couple of weeks, but I feel confident that I can play and what shows on paper tonight and those stats, I know I’m better than that. I trust our guys. They trust me. So I think we can keep going up from here.”

Hoyer, who had thrown for 300 or more yards in three consecutive starts, completed only one of his first six passes — a 25-yard gain on a deep ball over the middle to Bellamy on the Bears’ second possession.

But Hoyer did get the Bears out of a hole on their next possession, after the defense stopped Ty Montgomery at the 1-yard line on fourth down. After Carey was stopped for no gain on first down, Hoyer hit Jeffery with a quick-hitter for an 11-yard gain to the 12. That drive ended at mid-field with the incomplete pass that left Hoyer on the ground and out of the game.

The loss of Hoyer and Long was a blow to a Bears offense that already was missing starting quarterback Jay Cutler (sprained thumb) and left guard Josh Sitton (ankle). The offense, which had been struggling to score points this season, also struggled to gain yards as well against the Packers. The Bears gained a 189 total yards — their lowest total since being held to 146 in a 26-0 loss to the Seahawks, when Jimmy Clausen was starting for Cutler. It was only the second time they have gained fewer than 200 yards in a game since 2012.