Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields not cleared to play; Tyson Bagent will start Thursday

LAKE FOREST – Bears quarterback Justin Fields will not play during Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field. Backup Tyson Bagent will make his fourth consecutive start in Fields’ place.

Head coach Matt Eberflus announced Wednesday at Halas Hall that Fields has not been cleared by the team’s medical staff. Fields has not played since dislocating his thumb Oct. 15 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Fields went 19 days without throwing a football before he returned to practice Friday. The injury did not require surgery, but it has taken a while for Fields’ grip strength to return after the training staff popped his thumb back into place.

During practice Friday, Fields wore a glove on his throwing hand, which helps him grip the football. On Wednesday, however, Fields practiced with no gloves.

Fields was a limited participant in practice this week. He’s officially listed as “doubtful” for Thursday’s game, and he might warm up prior to the game, but Eberflus announced that Bagent will start and Nathan Peterman will serve as the backup.

Eberflus said the Bears were open to the possibility of Fields starting this week, but the injury did not progress in the manner that the training staff wanted to see.

“We left it open and there was optimism there,” Eberflus said.

Prior to the injury, Fields was coming off two of his best games. He threw eight combined touchdown passes in an Oct. 1 loss to the Broncos and an Oct. 5 win over the Commanders. He was off to a slower start against Minnesota on Oct. 15 before injuring his thumb just after halftime.

The Bears have a quick turnaround between Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints and Thursday’s game against the Panthers.

In Fields’ place, Bagent has started the past three games. The Bears are 1-2 in those three games. This stretch started off on a positive note with a win over the Raiders. On Sunday against New Orleans, however, Bagent threw three interceptions and fumbled once.

“I think as a rookie, you’re always going to learn a bunch every game,” Eberflus said. “I think the last game was no different than that. You’ve just got to keep improving. I think you learn a lot of different things every game as a quarterback.”

Bagent, an undrafted rookie from Division II Shepherd University, has thrown for 697 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions in three and a half games.

“With the coaching, our preparation due to a short week, [we’ve] done a great job as a team and [I have] as just an individual of getting the playcall sheet all together, what we’re looking for with everything,” Bagent said. “So feeling confident going into this game.”

Injury report: Elsewhere on the Bears’ injury report, fullback Khari Blasingame (concussion), linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (knee), right guard Nate Davis (ankle) and Terell Smith (illness) have been ruled out for Thursday’s game.

Cornerback Josh Blackwell (hamstring), running back Khalil Herbert (ankle) and receiver Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring) are questionable, but were full participants in practice all week. Those three must be activated off injured reserve if they’re going to play.

Transactions: The Bears waived safety Duron Harmon and cornerback Greg Stroman on Wednesday, creating two open roster spots. That will likely pave the way for Blackwell, Herbert or St. Brown to be activated Thursday.