All three of the Chicago Bears quarterbacks are in consideration to start Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said he expects to see one of the Bears’ two veteran options under center for the first snap of the game.
“I think that certainly (Justin) Fields is going to play some, but I’m sure it’ll be: if (Andy) Dalton can go, it’ll be him, and if not it’ll be (Nick) Foles,” Campbell said Wednesday. “And I think there’ll be a lot of just knowing the background of Foles, it’ll be a lot more gun-run type things, RPOs, which is kind of some of the things they were trying to do with Fields. I think Dalton brings a little more variety, just on what he’s able to do. But we’ll be prepared for both.”
Dalton started the first two games of the season but suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in Week 2 that kept him out of last week’s 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
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Fields, Chicago’s first-round pick, started that game, but finished 6 of 20 passing for 68 yards, was sacked nine times and needed X-rays on this throwing hand after the game. The Bears finished with 1 net yard passing, their lowest total since 1981.
Foles has not taken a snap this season, but started for the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl four seasons ago.
Campbell said the Bears looked slightly different on offense the first two weeks with Dalton under center than they did last week with Fields.
Dalton, in his 11th NFL season, operated more from under center, while the Bears used Fields primarily out of the shotgun.
“As the game went on, they started putting him under center, moving him a little bit, more boots, things like that to try to get him out of the pocket and get him on the move,” Campbell said. “So yeah, there’s some things we got to prepare for, but that’s all right. We’ll be ready for both.”
The Bears (1-2) rank last in the NFL in total offense (191.7 ypg) and passing (90.7) and have scored the second-fewest points in the league (40) through three weeks.
Fields saw spot playing time in the opener, completing his only two pass attempts and rushing for a touchdown, then relieved Dalton in Week 2.
“He had some struggles early but I would say there were signs of life at the end of that tape when you watch him, some of the things where, now maybe it wasn’t always the right read but like he’s pulling the trigger, he’s not waiting in the pocket,” Campbell said. “He’s trying to diagnose quicker. They’re getting him out on the perimeter, so there was some things to where, OK, I think they probably gathered some information on things that can help him. And so those are the things we got to be ready for.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.