Bears head coach Matt Nagy has gotten some clarity on how much rookie quarterback Justin Fields will play — at least in this week’s preseason matchup.
In his Thursday press conference, Nagy told reporters that the plan is for the No. 11 overall pick to play well into the second half.
“I would say that for Justin, [he’ll play] for sure past halftime,” Nagy said. “I hate to say that anything is 100 percent, but the mindset going into it is he’s going to get a lot of reps. Does that take him into the fourth quarter? Maybe. Who knows? We’ll see. But the more reps we can get him right now, the better. It’s only going to help him.”
Nagy has previously said he plans to have starting quarterback Andy Dalton on the field for a drive or two — so likely eight to 10 plays. Nagy also mentioned that it’s important for Fields to get into a rhythm of what games will be like at the professional level.
“For him, it’s going to be coming out to start the game and being on the sideline and then going in, then getting to halftime and coming back out and playing with different guys,” Nagy said. “That’s the other thing in preseason, you’re not always playing with the same guys. So we need to get as many reps as we can with him.”
Fields will make his preseason debut against the Dolphins on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.