Justin Fields Limited in Practice

The Bears have to make a quarterback decision again this week and all three were back at practice but the one most Bears fans want to see playing is the one in the worst shape.

USA Today

Unlike last week, the Bears could have choices at starting quarterback for Sunday's game with the New York Giants.

It will likely be a situation where they're certain of who plays by Thursday or Friday as they had all three quarterbacks on the practice field on Wednesday after both Andy Dalton and Justin Fields couldn't practice last week. 

However, it looks more likely at this point to be either Nick Foles or Dalton who will play. That's because both Foles and Dalton went through full practices Wednesday while Fields was only able to do a limited practice.

"Whoever it is, they've got to be ready to go," coach Matt Nagy said. "But like I said, we've said from the beginning that we're always going to put the person's health number one and then we kind of go from there."

Foles quarterbacked the team to a comeback win over Seattle Sunday with Fields plagued by an ankle injury and Dalton by a groin strain.

"We've got to work through each day when they're out there with their pain level and where they're at," Nagy said. "And then we just go off of that."

The Bears passing attack behind Foles looked more efficient than in any game since they had 310 yards on Thanksgiving against Detroit with Dalton at quarterback.

Against the Seahawks, Foles was able to engineer scoring drives to account for 25 points. It was the most their offense has scored in any game all season. 

They had special teams touchdowns when they scored 27 against Pittsburgh and when they had 30 against Green Bay, their two highest total point outputs this year.

"I think we all saw what Nick was able to do last week with limited reps, winning the football game," Nagy said. "That's the luxury we have of having him with the depth we have. So we'll kind of work through that and see."

The problem with all of this is the only quarterback who helps the franchise in the long run by playing is Fields. He'll be in Chicago next year regardless, but the same can't be said for Foles, Dalton, or even the coaching staff.

"He wants to be out there," Nagy said. "He wants to be out there for his teammates, he wants to be out there to be able to help every way he can to help us continue to finish the season strong. 

"Getting those reps has been really good for him, which I think is great. He's grown in a lot of different ways. Every rep he can get at this point, with how it has gone on and this season will be valuable for him for the rest of his career, different experiences you get. But, we don't want to, we want him to be extremely healthy when he's at that point and I think that's probably, what we’re working through right now, is his health, along with Andy's too because he's hurt as well."

The Bears had one other player return on a limited basis besides Fields, and that was left tackle Jason Peters. No other players missed due to injury, although four still remain on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Bears also had left tackle Teven Jenkins back for a full practice despite a shoulder injury that caused him to leave Sunday's win.

Larry Borom had to finish at left tackle in the game, but now it could turn out neither of the rookie tackles starts, or that both could depending on Peters' status or if Nagy decides to sit Ifedi. 

"I know it's you get to these points right now in the season, and especially when we're not able to make the playoffs, and I understand that everybody's going to have their own opinion and there's a dynamic to who each player is and the roles that they've come into," Nagy said. 

In the end, the Bears have to weigh the tackles' health, but also who will play the best to keep their quarterback protected, whoever the quarterback is.

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