Andy Dalton Will Not Play in Preseason Finale

Bears coach Matt Nagy hints he may have been holding back on some of the team's offense during preseason games with an eye on the regular season.

Before the Bears plan to put Justin Fields into storage for the regular season, they'll get him one last look at an opposing defense.

Fields will start Saturday night's game at Tennessee and starter Andy Dalton will not see action in the preseason finale. 

"I think it’s going to be a good opportunity for him and then you know we'll be selective across the board for the other players as we go but you're gonna see a direction of more kind of like the old school fourth preseason game for that," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "It's just kind of new for all of us but that's where we're at as a staff and where I'm at too." 

This is not to see if Fields can be the opening-day starter. The Bears have already said Dalton is handling this.

"We just want to see him play hard, play well," Nagy said. "The variables are different. He's not out there–just like Andy hasn't been out here with some of those one receivers. So, all I want to see from him is just play a good game of football at the quarterback position and again keep the big picture in mind for all of us."

It's more likely Fields will be playing without starting wide receivers than without his starting offensive linemen.

Bears best option to start the season:

Justin Fields QB1
Bill Lazor calling plays

what the Bears likely go with instead:

Andy Dalton QB1
Matt Nagy calling plays

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 21, 2021

"I think probably big picture is we're thinking that's where the starters will come in will be that offensive line," Nagy said. "When you talk about the quote/unquote ones and even with that we've got to be able to see where some of those guys are at at the tackle position just getting back into things so we'll keep an eye on that."

By that, Nagy was referring to both veteran acquisition Jason Peters and rookie Larry Borom, who are essentially the top two left tackles at the moment. They have Elijah Wilkinson, as well, but his destination appears to be right tackle as a backup.

Nagy hinted he may have been holding back a bit on what the Bears can do offensively during preseason games to date.

"Probably a little bit. At least I think so," he said. "You never know. The rhythm for us is offensively being able to get more first downs and eliminate penalties, you know, and that's where I think–even with the second group out there, there's still penalties, there's still mistakes and they're all learning. 

"All of that said, I think that's where as coaches we gotta make sure that we stay even-keeled with the too highs of doing well in preseason or the too lows of not doing well."

Nagy said Fields' next action after the preseason is almost entirely contingent upon how Dalton performs in the regular season.

"We'll see but I would say yeah, big picture when we talked about this from the very start we said whoever is going to be best for the Chicago Bears and that's going to obviously deal with production and wins, right?" Nagy said. "So when you look at this thing you want to make sure we all support each other with one common goal to win, and offensively to score touchdowns. 

"And Andy knows that, Andy is well aware of that. Andy's excited for the opportunity to show what he can do with these starters and in this offense. And then we've just got to, every day we have to evaluate and we have to see where we're at every single day."

Asked if it's possible Fields could play in a specific package or packages during the regular season, Nagy decided to play it coy and wore a big smile.

"You know it's something that, you know, I don't know," he said.

The Bears had cornerback Xavier Crawford (groin) and safety Teez Tabor (hamstring) off the practice field on Tuesday due to injuries suffered in Monday's practice. Linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe and receiver Javon Wims were back after a day away due to injuries.

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