Brian Hoyer had never broken a bone before. People told him that, if he ever did, he’d know it immediately.
When the Bears quarterback hit the Lambeau Field turf on Oct. 20 and grabbed his left arm, he found out how right they were. He thought about the similarities after leaving the game: he was also playing on a Thursday night when he tore his ACL three years ago. The Browns wore all brown uniforms that day, the Bears all navy against the Packers.
He knew, too, that a giant opportunity had ended too soon.
The Bears can fix that.
After listening to GM Ryan Pace discuss his quarterback options Wednesday, Hoyer sounds like the odds-on favorite to be the Bears’ caretaker starter next season. He fits the GM’s requirement — a veteran presence who won’t turn the ball over.
Hoyer is more likely to return than Matt Barkley or Jay Cutler, though Cutler is the only one of the three under contract next season.
The reason: if the Bears draft a quarterback, in the first round or otherwise, they’ll likely need to start a veteran to try to avoid another losing season — which could get the coaching staff fired.
“It’s a case-by-case basis,” Pace said. “If you get a young quarterback, is he ready to play right now? Maybe he isn’t. Maybe you need a ‘bridge’ quarterback to help out that transition.”
That parallel track seems the most likely path, unless the Bears decide they want to outbid other teams for the Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
The caretaker strategy isn’t the most exciting choice for Bears fans desperate for a jersey to buy, but it’s probably the most prudent. Hoyer is the best in-house candidate to do be the one-year stopgap — and might be better-suited for the role than any free agent, too.
Hoyer has mentored young players before, sharing a quarterbacks room with Browns rookie Johnny Manziel in 2014 and Texans second-year quarterback Tom Savage in 2015.
“This is what I said in Cleveland — the best way to show a young guy how to do it is to do it well and just do your job,” Hoyer said.
Pace said it’s “critical” for his next quarterback will needs to have good decision-making skills. That, unequivocally, was Hoyer’s strength in his first year running the Bears’ offense.
In 200 pass attempts this season, Hoyer didn’t throw a single interception. Barkley threw 14 in 216 tries.
Barkley had a luxury that Hoyer did not, too — Jordan Howard averaged a half-yard more per carry in Barkley’s six starts than in Hoyer’s five.
“If you look at our turnover ratio this year, we’re bottom in the league,” Pace said. “Look at the bottom five teams — they’re all bad teams right now. We’ve got to get out of that category. It starts with not throwing interceptions.”
Hoyer as a caretaker would give the Bears’ quarterback of the future — drafted somewhere in Rounds 1 through 3, preferably — time to develop.
Hoyer would grow, too. He’s started for three different teams in the past three seasons, and has played for five different franchises in six years.
“Ideally, you’d love to be in the same system two years in a row,” he said.
He values his relationship with offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains — whose job was declared safe this week — dating back to their time in Cleveland.
Were he to re-sign, Hoyer would be guaranteed of playing time — at least for a while.
“I’d love to stay here,” Hoyer said. “I think we have the building blocks in place.”
