The Bears also ruled out backup Andy Dalton. Foles will play Sunday for the first time in nearly a year.
Bears coach Matt Nagy didn’t seem too concerned about quarterback Justin Fields’ ankle early in the week. He said he expected him to play Sunday against the Seahawks and portrayed scaling back his work in practice during the week as simply a precaution. Turns out it was quite a bit cloudier than that, and Fields is likely to miss the game. The Bears will start third-stringer Nick Foles against the Seahawks, and practice-squad quarterback Ryan Willis most likely will back him up. Nagy said Friday that Fields would be available off the bench if he proves healthy enough in pre-game warmups, but specified that would be as an “emergency” option in case Willis doesn’t have a clear enough grasp of the playbook.
