Getty Los Angeles Ram defenders surround and wrap up Nick Foles in the October 2020 Monday Night Football 24-10 win over the Chicago Bears.
Is there the chance the Los Angeles Rams will see a two-quarterback system with the Chicago Bears on Sunday night?
Veteran Andy Dalton is the projected starter. However, Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked if the team has to plan for prized Chicago first rounder Justin Fields too.
“I think it’ll be naive for us to not prepare for them to be able to utilize him in some form or fashion,” McVay told the L.A. media following the Monday, September 6, practice at Thousand Oaks, which he answers near the 2:55 mark of the post practice video below.
Bears QB’s Have Been Supportive, Nagy Says
So maybe there’s no QB controversy in the Windy City.
The 43-year-old Nagy, who has guided the Bears to two playoff appearances in his first three seasons, told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback on Monday that both men have been supportive of one another.
“Andy was one of the first guys down the field celebrating on Justin’s first touchdown in the first preseason game,” Nagy told Breer. “Andy’s a huge supporter of Justin. And Justin’s a huge supporter of Andy. [Nick Foles is] the same way. When you have that and worry about what you can do to make us and you better, then we’ll all be successful.”
Nagy adds that the rookie from Ohio State has grown to understand the Bears’ offense – to the point he can talk to plus direct his teammates through play calls.
“He’s passed that test,” Nagy said to Breer. “We went through that in OTAs, and once he got to training camp, he put in a lot of work into trying to understand the formations and understand the motions and shifts, understand the concepts. He got over the hurdle of just memorizing and now he speaks to people. That part, there’s always a play or two where you might have a little difficulty, but he’s done a great job with that. That’s not a concern.”
Should the Bears roll out the 6-foot-3, 227-pound Fields, it’ll likely be because:
- Daulton either under performs or gets injured. Or…
- The Bears throw Read Option looks with Fields to throw off the Rams.
Former Rams QB and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner gave his breakdown of the Bears’ newest QB in his You Tube series called “OB Confidential” on Wednesday, September 1.
The second part of Warner’s breakdown of Fields points to “things he needs to work on” after watching him during the 2021 preseason, which includes scrutinizing Fields’ eyes down the field.
Rams ‘On Track’ to Welcome Back Key Defender
The Rams defense, No. 1 overall one year ago, are expected to receive an added boost for their Sunday Night contest in Inglewood.
A’Shawn Robinson, who had to undergo minor knee surgery one week ago, is anticipated to rejoin the defensive line.
“He’s on track to be able to go,” McVay said. “That was kind of the goal and we’ll take it one day at a time with him. He’s on track right now.”
McVay is expecting a challenge out of the Bears on offense, saying “You know that they’ll do some good stuff offensively with coach (Matt) Nagy and coach (Bill) Lazor.”
Either way, McVay sounds like the Rams are already game-planning for a two-headed QB monster out of the Monsters of the Midway.
“Andy Dalton’s a really good quarterback and he’ll be a great challenge. And then you see the ways that Justin (Fields) made a lot of plays going back to his career at Ohio State (and) what he showed in the preseason. So, I think you got to be ready for either or, but it’s going to be challenge, for sure,” McVay said.