Bears’ GM defends starting QB choice
Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Pace stood by the decision to open the season with veteran Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback.
He sees no reason to rush Justin Fields.
The plan is to have the team’s prized rookie watch and learn from the sideline. And Pace is standing by it.
“I just feel we’re just in a good position with Andy,” Pace said Wednesday. “It starts with how we feel about Andy. And we’re very confident in him and where he’s at. So there’s no need for us to rush Justin.”
The Bears have said Dalton is their starting quarterback since they signed the three-time Pro Bowler to a one-year, $10 million contract. That didn’t change when they traded up nine spots with the New York Giants to draft Fields with the No. 11 overall pick.
The big move to land the former Ohio State star gave fans hope that the Bears might finally have a franchise quarterback. The organization is banking on it after whiffing on Mitchell Trubisky, the No. 2 pick in 2017.
Fields showed promise in the preseason with his arm, speed and poise. But the Bears decided it’s best to have him backing up for now rather than thrust him into the starting role.
So it will be Dalton, the longtime Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, behind center when the Bears visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 12.
“Best-case scenario is to win games with the roster that we have,” Pace said. “We feel like we can. We feel like we’ve gotten strong in a lot of areas. We feel like we’ve increased competition in a lot of areas. … We believe we can win games with Andy, and then grow Justin at the right rate.”
That could change if the team struggles.
Chairman George McCaskey opted to stick with Pace and Coach Matt Nagy after the Bears went 8-8 in the regular season for the second year in a row. Though they made the playoffs, they did it as the seventh seed in an expanded field. Chicago then lost a wild-card game at New Orleans in convincing fashion.
If the Bears struggle in the early going, the heat on Pace and Nagy figures to intensify. The calls for Fields will only get louder, too.
So far, Pace said, Fields has performed exactly the way the Bears hoped.
“We obviously knew about the arm talent, the athleticism, the work ethic, all of those things,” Pace said. “But when you get him out there in an NFL environment, he stays calm in the moment. I think his heart rate stays low, he processes fast. He goes through progressions.”
As for Dalton? “Andy’s our starter and we’re rolling with that,” Pace said.