Bears QB Andy Dalton has bone bruise: report

If Dalton can’t play Sunday in Cleveland, then rookie quarterback Justin Fields will make his first NFL start.

Bears quarterback Andy Dalton avoided catastrophe, but he could still miss time.

Tests performed Monday showed that Dalton’s left knee injury is in fact a bone bruise, NFL Network reported. Dalton’s femur and tibia collided when he scrambled along the right sideline and then out of bounds for a 14-yard gain early in the second quarter against the Bengals on Sunday.

The injury could cost Dalton a couple weeks, though the Bears aren’t incentivized to offer a timeline until Wednesday’s league-mandated injury report, at the earliest. A bone bruise — much less serious than a fracture — can only be shown by MRIs.

If Dalton can’t play Sunday in Cleveland, then rookie quarterback Justin Fields will make his first NFL start.

A bone bruise was one of the knee injuries Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered in Week 1 against the Bears in the 2018 opener, when he returned from the locker room and rallied his team to a victory.

Next Up In Chicago Bears

Simone Biles: 'Nothing foul' about comments made by her husband, new Bear Jonathan Owens

Thanks partly to NIL, fewer underclassmen enter NFL Draft

Bears hire Chiefs executive Ted Crews to run public relations ahead of QB Caleb Williams' likely arrival

QB decision is Bears GM Ryan Poles' moment of truth

Mock draft: Bears go for USC QB Caleb Williams first, but who's next?

Bears president Kevin Warren has seen team transform in Year 1, but biggest challenge remains