Suddenly the Chicago Bears may have a bigger health crisis at quarterback than expected. Following the loss to Arizona last Sunday, head coach Matt Nagy revealed Andy Dalton had suffered an injury to his non-throwing hand. He didn’t elaborate on the extent of the damage at the time. So nobody thought much of it. Perhaps that was a mistake since it appears the injury was fairly significant.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, it sounds like Dalton suffered a broken bone in his hand. This puts his status for Sunday against Green Bay in question. While it occurred on the non-throwing hand, this still drastically impacts his ability to take snaps under center. This might force him to sit the game out, which is a problem since it also isn’t clear whether Justin Fields is ready to return from his rib injury as well.
We'll see what #Bears coach Matt Nagy says about Justin Fields (cracked ribs) later today.
Perhaps he will have an update on Andy Dalton as well with a definite chance he suffered a broken bone in his left hand in Sunday's loss to Arizona.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) December 8, 2021
This is trouble news.
It means there is a small possibility the Bears might be forced to start Nick Foles on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Nagy’s lack of clarity on Fields earlier in the week didn’t offer confidence the rookie could return yet. Cracked ribs usually take around six weeks to completely heal. Now Andy Dalton might not have the use of one of his hands against the second-best team in the NFC. The choice could be either going with him at less than 100% or a healthy Foles.
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Not ideal. This underscores yet again the rotten injury luck the Bears have suffered this season. Already several of their most prominent players have missed multiple games with health issues. Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, and Allen Robinson are among them. Their absences showed in the losses to Baltimore and Arizona. Now facing the prospect of both Fields and Dalton not playing could make Sunday even more unwatchable than fans already feared.
This makes the Bears’ upcoming injury report on must-see. If Dalton doesn’t practice and Fields is still limited? People can start penciling Foles in against the Packers.
