Getty Casey Toohill of the Washington Commanders tackles Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields was sacked five times in the team’s 12-7 loss to the Washington Commanders Week 6. The second-year QB has been sacked 23 times in six games, and in Thursday night’s loss to the Commanders, he was pressured 15 times, hurried 10 times and hit four times, per PFF.
It’s a good thing Fields has nearly a week and a half to rest up before the Bears play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football October 24.
After the game, the Bears quarterback admitted he has been dealing with a shoulder injury, and confirmed it was something that was bothering him during the team’s loss to the Commanders.
“I’m hurting. Hurting pretty good,” Fields admitted. “But we got a long weekend, so I will have some extra time to heal up.”
Justin Fields Is Dealing With Left Shoulder Issue
Fields and the Bears have exactly 11 days before they must face Bill Belichick and the Patriots, who are giving up 19.6 points a game on defense. Fields will likely use much of that time to rest his non-throwing arm, which he says has bothered him previously.
“Yeah, my shoulder, my left shoulder, hurt it a while back so just kind of re-aggravated it,” the Bears QB said, also explaining why he was spotted doing work with resistance bands on the sideline. “I was just trying to keep the muscles activating and just keep it moving,” he added.
Chicago’s backup is Trevor Siemian, and while it doesn’t appear the Bears will need to bring him in to relieve Fields at this point, if the shoulder injury lingers and/or the sacks keep piling up, it’s only a matter of time before that happens. Regardless, Fields’ shoulder will be something to monitor moving forward.
Fields Had Another Inconsistent Performance vs. Commanders
Fields completed 14 of 27 passes for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the loss to Washington, also rushing for 88 yards on 12 carries, the second-best rushing game of his career (stats via Pro Football Reference).
It was another up and down performance for the young QB, who had a nice 40-yard touchdown pass wide receiver Dante Pettis, which was the 11th touchdown toss of the 23-year-old quarterback’s career.
.@justnfields with a DIME to @dmainy_13 for 6 🙌
📺: #WASvsCHI on @NFLonPrime
Fields had a rough game in the red zone, however, as he and the Bears failed to score once on any of their three trips inside the 20-yard line. On Chicago’s first red zone possession, Fields had a pass deflected off Washington defensive lineman Efe Obada’s helmet, which was then intercepted by Jonathan Allen.
Several possessions later, the Bears QB missed what would have been a wide open touchdown to tight end Ryan Griffin:
Justin Fields misses on a wide open TD 🤦♂️ 🤦♂️
After the game, Fields expressed a good degree of frustration, and he noted the entire team was feeling it.
“Everybody is feeling this way. Everybody is mad,” Fields said. “I mean, nobody is happy about this loss. We always get told that we’re almost there, we’re almost there. Like me personally, I’m tired of being almost there. Tired of being just this close. Feel like I’ve been hearing it for so long now.”
That’s certainly a feeling Bears fans everywhere are familiar with, as well.