Justin Fields, Chicago Bears starters get off to slow start in preseason action Saturday

CHICAGO – It was a sluggish start for Justin Fields and the Bears’ starters during Saturday afternoon’s preseason loss, 24-21, against the Buffalo Bills. The first-team offense had back-to-back three-and-outs before a big play from receiver DJ Moore helped the offense get into field goal range on its third possession.

In all, Fields played 13 snaps. On his final play, he took a big hit on a screen pass late in the drive. Fields popped up quickly after taking the shot and appeared to be fine, but even so the Bears pulled him out of the game mid-possession. Reserve QB Tyson Bagent went in and finished off the drive.

Head coach Matt Eberflus said the Bears had Fields on a snap limit. They took him off the field because he reached his limit, not because of the big hit.

“That was just the end of my play count,” Fields said. “I definitely wanted to stay in and finish the drive. But I can’t, because the head man out there, got to listen to him.”

In all, Fields went 2-for-6 passing for 51 passing yards. He also rushed for 16 yards on three attempts. He was playing behind a battered offensive line, which featured only two regular starters. Left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Cody Whitehair were the only regulars in the lineup.

Larry Borom played right tackle, Ja’Tyre Carter played right guard and Doug Kramer started the game at center. Kramer left with an apparent hand injury and Dieter Eiselen replaced him at center.

The biggest play of the day for the Bears starters was a 40-yard completion from Fields to Moore. Much like a couple of weeks ago, Moore turned a pitch and catch into a big gain with a solid run after the catch.

“I mean he’s great,” Fields said of Moore. “He’s definitely one of the better guys I’ve seen. Just his ability to even go a little like that, come up and get more yards is going to be great for our offense, great for our team.”

The defense was also short-handed in the starting lineup. Safeties Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker did not play Saturday. Quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills starters drove 72 yards for a touchdown on their opening possession of the game. Allen did not go back into the game following the touchdown-scoring drive.

The Bears now have about 72 hours to process the preseason and decide what to do with their roster. NFL teams must cut rosters from 90 players to 53 players by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’ll sit down with all those guys when that happens,” Eberflus said. “We like to sit and talk to them man to man, tell them what and why and what’s going on. We’ll have an eye-to-eye conversation.”