The injuries have forced the Chicago Bears to turn to veteran Nick Foles at the quarterback position. Foles, who hasn’t played at all in 2021, is set to start under center for the upcoming game against the Seattle Seahawks. The news was confirmed by the Bears’ head coach Matt Nagy during a press conference on Friday.
Chicago lost their starter Justin Fields on Monday after the rookie suffered an ankle injury in a 17-9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. They also can’t count on Andy Dalton, who was their Week 1 starter, since the veteran is still recovering from a recent groin injury.
The Bears also have rookie QB Ryan Willis on their roster, signing the Virginia Tech product to their practice squad earlier this month. Willis could get the job to back up Foles, but that will only be the case if Fields doesn’t recover enough to fill that role, according to Nagy.
“It would probably be more of an emergency situation, and we just have to see where Justin’s at percentage-wise, where it doesn’t risk his health but he’s able to help us,” said Nagy “If that’s not the best thing to do, trust me, we’re going to go ahead and go with Ryan.”
Nick Foles joined the Bears in 2020 in a trade from the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his first season with the franchise, Foles started seven games, throwing for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Chicago went 2-5 in that period.
