Who’s the QB? A weird hour for the Bears on Sunday
EAST RUTHERFORD, NY – It appeared that things were going to go as many expected at around 10:30 AM when the Bears’ inactive list was released.
But over the next hour-and-a-half, things got a little dramatic when it comes to the Bears’ starting quarterback situation against the Jets.
When the team’s inactive list was released, Justin Fields was officially ruled out with a left shoulder injury, which is what many expected after he suffered a separation against the Falcons the week before.
That made Trevor Siemian the starter and Nathan Peterman, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, the backup. All was going to plan until it wasn’t a little after 11 AM.
On the team’s public relations Twitter and in the press box at Met Life Stadium, it was announced that Siemian had an oblique injury in warmups and that Peterman would be the starter.
“Yeah, was throwing, something wasn’t right, flared up on me, and then got back in the locker room and figured something wasn’t right again but gave it a go,” said Siemian, who was going to still serve as the backup despite the injury.
It made for an interesting moment for Peterman, who was getting ready to start his first game since facing the Bears on November 4, 2018 as a member of the Buffalo Bills. It looked like that would be the plan for the Bears until about ten minutes before the kickoff.
Reporters were informed in the press box that Simian may end up starting after all and that he’d felt better after the oblique injury in warm-ups. Sure enough, when the Bears’ first team offense hit the field, it was the original starter that trotted into the huddle.
“Obviously, when you’re a passer, that’s a big issue to throw the ball down the field, so came in and got some medication. He thought it was going to be ok and then it ended up as he went through pregame warmups, he came back in and felt like he was ok,” said head coach Matt Eberflus of Siemian and the drama of whether he’d start or not.
In his first start of the season, the quarterback led the Bears to ten points on the first two drives but the offense was shut out after that. Siemian went 14-of-25 for 179 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 31-10 loss to the Jets.
So how did the quarterback feel about the whole ordeal before the game?
“Honestly I’m more embarrassed getting the injury I got,” said Siemian when asked if the oblique bothered him during the game. “You got guys in there that are playing, what are we, Week 12, 13, going through hell and I have like a noncontact thing show up.
“So, yeah, not ideal, but everybody is going through something at this point of the year.”
Siemian certainly went through a lot for an hour and a half before his first Bears’ start on Sunday.
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