Bear Digest

Past Games Say Trouble Ahead if Bears Face Marcus Mariota


The Commanders backup stepped in for injured Jayden Daniels Sunday to lead a win and has a history of being able to handle Chicago's defense.

Gene Chamberlain

Marcus Mariota gets off a pass against Carolina in a 40-7 Commanders rout of the Panthers Sunday.
Marcus Mariota gets off a pass against Carolina in a 40-7 Commanders rout of the Panthers Sunday. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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Perhaps the Bears should be hoping their defense gets the chance to face injured Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels rather than backup Marcus Mariota.

This has very little to do with 37 points Mariota led the Commanders to Sunday in a 40-7 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Simply, Mariota has been a tough nut for the Bears defense to crack.

They have faced Mariota twice, once in their old Vic Fangio 3-4 defense and in 2022 under Matt Eberflus. They lost both, as Mariota led his team to 27 points in both a 2016 win for Tennessee and a 2022 win for Atlanta.

In the two games, Mariota had passer ratings of 126.4 and 100.2, threw for 357 yards on 28 of 43, had three touchdowns with no interceptions and ran 17 times for 71 yards with a touchdown. His overall passer rating against the Bears is 114.2.

Mariota went 18 of 23 for 205 yards with two TDs Sunday, but the Commanders' running game had at least as much to do with their easy win as their passing. They ran for 214 yards on 37 attempts, with starter Brian Robinson Jr. gaining a team-high 71 yards on 17 attempts.

There was no update from Commanders coach Dan Quinn on the status of Daniels' rib injury Sunday after the rout of Carolina, only to say there would be more tests on Monday.

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Daniels' mother posted "he's fine," on social media.

Daniels returned to the sideline in street clothes Sunday in the second half after being hurt on the first possession.

The Athletic reported head athletic trainer Al Bellamy, team physician Christopher Annunziata and senior director of player health and performance Tim McGrath watched Daniels throw some passes after the injury and he was examined, then they got the immediate tests back and made a recommendation to GM Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn to keep their starting QB out of the remainder of the game.

"There’s a lot of people, obviously, who want Jayden to be out there," tight end Zach Ertz said, according to The Athletic's David Aldridge. "But people care about Jayden the person first.

"I think it's a testament to the people they have running this place that they view us not only as Employee Number 5, or Employee 86, but they care about us as people, as individuals. Jayden’s long-term health is of the utmost importance to everyone in this building."

It's expected Quinn will have more to say about the injury Monday afternoon.

The Bears will have more to say about their own injuries from Week 6 then, too. Tyrique Stevenson (calf) and Kyler Gordon (hamstring) all were injured in the game with Jacksonville and Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and Terell Smith (hip) already were injured as their starting secondary has been hit hard,

But it's more likely not much more will be known on Bears injuries until Wednesday's injury report.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.