Bears Injuries Keep Piling Up

Nathan Peterman starts at QB but won't have Teven Jenkins or backup Michael Schofield at right guard as they've gone on IR.

 Nathan Peterman doesn't really care about the discussion or accusations of the Bears tanking for the first pick in the draft after the sat down Justin Fields with a hip injury.

Because of the season-ending injury to Fields, Peterman gets a chance at a Bears start in the season finale for his first start since he started against the Bears in 2018.

"I try not to think about the outside stuff and what other people think," Peterman said. "I'm very focused on going out there, playing great and winning a football game. That's all you can do every time you go out there.

"I'm excited. Trying not to listen to the outside noise too much."

Besides Fields the Bears are missing several other players and have placed several on injured reserve. The list of those on IR includes both starting right guard Teven Jenkins (neck) and backup right guard Michael Schofield (knee)  and slot cornerback Josh Blackwell (undisclosed). Also, starting cornerback Jaylon Jones did not practice because he is in the concussion protocol.

The Bears did not actually have practice Wednesday but had a walk-through and the injury report is a projection of what would have happened had there been practice. Coach Matt Eberflus gave them the walk-through because there were so many injuries.

Peterman's last start was a 41-9 Buffalo loss when the Bears sacked him four times and picked him off three times in 2018 when Vic Fangio was Chicago defensive coordinator.

"It's an awesome opportunity," Peterman said. "It's been a few years. Still have gotten to play a lot of football in preseason or whatnot, but obviously a regular-season game is an amazing opportunity and I'm looking forward to it.

"It's been a lot of hard work putting into this season and a lot of ups and downs obviously, but to go out on a great note, have some fun and just go out and play football is going to be a good thing."

Peterman has appeared in only four games since that disaster against a Bears NFC North championship team, and two came in two weeks prior to the last Bears loss. He's 3 of 6 on the year for 25 yards with an interception.

For his career, Peterman is 74 of 141 for 598 yards (52.5%) with 13 interceptions and three touchdowns for a 32.2 passer rating.

Peterman looks forward to actually taking some first-team snaps in practice for  change. When he was third-team quarterback he got none, and must wait until Thursday because the Bears had only the Wednesday walk-through.

"There's different things like this all the time in the NFL," Peterman said. "Sometimes you walk through and stuff. I've gotten to practice all year. I'm sure we'll get some full-speed stuff at some point. Just part of your job."

It's not the first time Peterman was slated to start this year. The other time happened in New Jersey against the New York Jets. He was slated as starter for about five minutes.

That was when Fields' backup, Trevor Siemian, was to start but suffered an oblique injury in warmups. After a few minutes the Bears announced Peterman would need to replace Fields and Siemian. 

After warmups, though, Siemian decided he could play.

"It was a crazy time," Peterman said. "I don't really want to go into it too much. Yeah, lot of crazy stuff that day."

Bears Injury Report*

Did Not Practice

S Jaquan Brisker (personal)

QB Justin Fields (hip)

CB Jaylon Jones (concussion)

LB Sterling Weatherford (undislosed)

Limited

LS Patrick Scales (neck)

TE Trevon Wesco (ankle)

Placed on Injured Reserve

CB Josh Blackwell (undisclosed)

G Teven Jenkins (neck)

G Michael Schofield (knee)

Signed from Practice Squad

LB DeMarquis Gates

DL Jalyn Holmes

DL Terrell Lewis

*Report was a projection by the team because a walk-through was held instead of practice.

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