Justin Fields Apologized to Bears Defense After Loss to Falcons, per Sources

The young quarterback wasn’t able to get through his apology before being interrupted.

Justin Fields took a moment to apologize to his Bears teammates after Chicago’s 27–24 loss to Atlanta, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Tuesday. However, the quarterback didn’t get to finish his apology. 

The 23-year-old injured his non-throwing arm late in Sunday’s game and is considered “day to day,” said coach Matt Eberflus. The injury report doesn’t come out until Wednesday, and Eberflus refused to say whether it could be season-ending or reveal the franchise’s plans for Fields. 

Fields landed on his left shoulder when Falcons cornerback Dee Alford tackled him on a run with just 1:47 to go. Chicago had to use a timeout with it being within the two-minute mark, and although he was injured, Fields wanted to finish out the game. 

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He ended the day with 153 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. But as the team gathered in the locker room, Fields said in his apology that “the defense gave the offense a chance, and the offense didn’t get it done,” Breer tweeted. However, as the quarterback was finishing his apology, the defense stopped him, emphasizing how they support him. 

My understanding is Fields' defensive teammates stopped him as he was finishing the apology, told him they had his back. Really cool moment for everyone there, and a nice sign of where Matt Eberflus has taken the culture in Chicago.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 22, 2022

The Bears still have two more games to go before a bye week, facing the Jets (6–4) and Packers (4–7). Specifics have not been revealed about the details of Fields’s injury, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday that “there was some pushback on the report” that the quarterback dislocated his shoulder, and Ian Rapoport said that the team is optimistic about his status for Sunday vs. the Jets during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. 

• Bear Digest: Bears and Falcons Live Blog: Bears 10, Falcons 7 2nd 

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