BEARS LOSE HOYER WITH BROKEN ARM
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears’ quest to turn offensive yards into touchdowns became even more problematic with injuries to quarterback Brian Hoyer and Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long in a 26- 10 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night at Lambeau Field.
Long “could have returned in emergency only,” coach John Fox said. But Hoyer suffered a broken left arm when he was hit and driven to the ground by Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews on a third- and- six incompletion with 10: 21 left in the second quarter. At the time of his injury, Hoyer had completed 4 of 11 passes for 49 yards and the Bears trailed 3- 0.
Third- string quarterback Matt Barkley — who had not thrown a pass in a regular- season game since 2014 with the Philadelphia Eagles — replaced Hoyer on the next series. He drove the Bears for a field goal on his first drive but struggled to get anything going after that. He completed 6 of 11 passes for 81 yards and was intercepted twice for an 18.3 passer rating.
“Anytime you lose your starting quarterback, it can be disruptive. That’s not an excuse — it’s just reality,” Fox said. “[ Barkley] hasn’t been with us that long to begin with. He’s been learning the offense. He doesn’t get all the starter reps, like most back- up quarterbacks in this league. We had a couple of changeups in our line. All in all, he hung in there and did about as well as he could.”
Barkley played substantially for the first time since Oct. 27, 2013, when he completed 17 of 26 passes for 158 yards, no touchdowns and one interception as a replacement for injured starter Michael Vick in the Eagles’ 15- 7 loss to the New York Giants.
“You want to say it’s tough, but I don’t like to think of that, because that’s making an excuse,” Barkley said. “I felt prepared coming into this game, especially on paper knowing what we were doing, X’s- and- O’s- wise. I told them not to hold back anything with the game plan when I went in, and I think they held true to that.
“But coming in throwing to guys you haven’t repped with was the biggest thing I had to get adjusted to real quick. Besides that, I thought we moved the ball well at times, but we also shot ourselves in the foot. Sometimes the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”
Hoyer, who had thrown for 300 or more yards in three consecutive starts, completed only one of his first six passes — a 25- yard gain on a deep ball over the middle to Josh Bellamy on the Bears’ second possession.
Hoyer did get the Bears out of a hole on their next possession, after the defense stopped Ty Montgomery at the 1- yard line on fourth down. After Ka’Deem Carey was stopped for no gain on first down, Hoyer threw a quick- hitter to Alshon Jeffery for an 11- yard gain to the 12. That drive ended at midfield with the incomplete pass that left Hoyer on the ground and out of the game.