Justin Fields to be absent again when Bears take on Saints this weekend
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Justin Fields will be absent from the field again on Sunday when the Bears visit the New Orleans Saints – as Head Coach Matt Eberflus has already ruled Fields out for the third straight game.
Meanwhile, Bears safety Jaquan Brisker is back in concussion protocol, after he battled illness last week and missed Sunday's 30-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Eberflus said that illness included the return of concussion symptoms.
Brisker and Jackson Eddie are also in danger of missing the game against the 4-4 Saints this week.
The Bears could use a little more defensive edge after giving up scores on every Chargers first-half drive on Sunday. That included Justin Herbert completing 84 percent of his passes and throwing three touchdowns in a half filled with missed tackles, penalties, and overall sloppy play by the Bears.
So are players now no longer buying in on what Eberflus is selling?
"I would disagree with that," Eberflus said. "I would say that it is there very week – the effort you know, and the intensity is there. I would say that we have to do a better job playing complementary football together – and also, it's just being on the details of the angles, the tackling – and again, we've got to just keep improving. And to me, that's about the detail, and just us executing better."
The Bears are now 5-20 under Eberflus, and have yet to put together back-to-back wins during his tenure.
The only area in which the Bears have shown consistency lately is being inconsistent.
"We've just got to be better for the game, like, our just physicality didn't show up, and our discipline was not very good at all," said Bears tight end Cole Kmet.
Kmet said the on Sunday Bears repeated the problems of recent past games – such as penalties and holding calls.
This coming Sunday, the Bears' meetup with the Saints will be a third straight start for rookie Tyson Bagent, who is 1-1 as a starter.
The good news is that Bagent only took one sack, despite throwing it a career-high 37 times in the loss Sunday. The bad news is a couple of those throws were interceptions – and Bagent didn't throw a TD pass.
"There were some solid points in the game yesterday. You know, obviously, the first game, it was good – and what was different was the takeaways, right? So we've got to do a good job of protecting the ball, and that was really the difference," Eberflus said. "I still think he delivered the ball well. I thought he took some shots down the field, which we didn't see in the first game – which was exciting to see. And we're going to continue to stretch the field vertically and horizontally."
Bagent himself is looking toward the future.
"You know, penalties are never good. I want to try to play clean, you know, as much as possible – and then, you know, besides that, I can't make it worse. So I've got to – no bad plays, just neutral plays or good plays," he said. "So I've got to take that into next week, and continue to get ready, and do a better job taking care of both. When you sign up to play in this league, you're signing up for ebbs and flows and highs and lows. It happens to every team every year. So we've got to do a good job of honing in this week, focusing in, locking in on the details, and taking care of the ball."
The Bears take on the Saints at noon Sunday, Nov. 5.
