Bears starting Tyson Bagent vs. Panthers; Matt Eberflus says Justin Fields ‘not playing’

The Bears plan to start rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent against the Panthers on Thursday night and give Justin Fields extra time to recover from his thumb injury with the hope that he’ll be ready Nov. 19 against the Lions.

That seems straightforward enough, but with the Bears, it’s never that clear and simple.

Coach Matt Eberflus inexplicably listed Fields as doubtful on the injury report despite saying flatly Wednesday, “He’s not playing,” and that Bagent “will be our starter” with third-stringer Nathan Peterman backing him up. He also said that although Fields has been throwing in practice and improving, he has not been medically cleared to play.

It makes no sense, then, to list him as doubtful. Eberflus’ attempts to explain that contradiction were unsuccessful and only further muddled the situation. Just another day at Halas Hall.

Eberflus said it was “a good possibility” that Fields would’ve been able to play if this were a Sunday game, signaling optimism for next week. In the open portion of practice Wednesday, he threw with a small brace on his hand. Fields did not talk to reporters after practice.

“It’s just all improving,” Eberflus said. “The grip strength, the accuracy, the ability to function as a quarterback. It’s getting close.”

He added that Fields will continue to throw during the upcoming break and “keep ramping up” with an eye on playing against the Lions.

In the meantime, the Bears will ride with Bagent into a weirdly must-win game.

While there’s no thought of the Bears chasing a playoff spot, they own the Panthers’ upcoming first-round pick and need to help send them straight to the top of the draft. At 1-7, the Panthers are slotted for the No. 2 pick.

Everything is new to Bagent at this stage, and the fresh challenge this week was to understand what went wrong as he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in the Bears’ 24-17 loss to the Saints and dive into the game plan for the Panthers in only three days.

Bagent was 3-for-11 for 19 yards with two interceptions in the fourth quarter against New Orleans as the Bears whiffed on prime opportunities to wrest control. While he sparked excitement with a competent performance to beat the Raiders in his first start, he threw five interceptions and had a 62.5 passer rating in the next two.

“As a rookie, you’re always going to learn a bunch every game, and last game was no different,” Eberflus said. “He’s just going to keep improving. . . . He’s really doing a good job of processing [information] and stepping forward. He’s able to look at things through the lens of optimism and then learn from adversity.”

If he can play more like he did in the Raiders game or replicate what he did in the first three quarters against the Saints, Bagent is capable of getting the Bears past the Panthers. He completed 15 of 19 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns with an interception before his fourth-quarter meltdown.

Bagent said Wednesday there were no revelations from the Saints game in terms of coverages and tricks he hadn’t seen before. He didn’t think defenses had been showing him anything new. The adjustment he’s struggling with is grasping how little margin there is against elite defenders.

“One way or another, I feel like I’ve seen everything that a defense can do — just haven’t played against this caliber before,” he said. “Not only are you playing against physical specimens, but you’re also playing against dudes who don’t really make mistakes. . . . You have to think smoother and faster than you ever have before.”

Bagent is merely four games and 233 snaps into his career, so no one expects him to have it all together yet. The Bears just need him to be good enough to beat the Panthers.