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Bears not ready to name starting QB for Sunday

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The health of Andy Dalton and Justin Fields will determine who the Bears will start at quarterback Sunday when they host the Lions.

Both players are dealing with injuries. Dalton was unable to play last Sunday in Cleveland due to a knee injury he had sustained a week earlier in a win over the Bengals. Fields made his first NFL start against the Browns and hurt his right thumb late in the game. While x-rays were negative, the Bears continue to monitor the rookie's injury.

On Wednesday, Fields was a full participant in practice, while Dalton was limited.

Coach Matt Nagy revealed Wednesday before practice that there has been no change in how the quarterbacks are stacked on the depth chart, saying: "Andy is the one, Justin is the two and Nick [Foles] is the three."

That presumably means that Dalton will start Sunday against the Lions if he's healthy enough to do so.

"As far as the depth chart, that has not changed," Nagy said. "As far as injuries, we're still working through that. You get to a point, too, for us where we've got to know exactly where they're at, and that's the whole timing element of these next couple of days. We've just got to make sure that wherever that goes, it's the best thing for the Bears. And when you start getting injuries into it, it makes it more difficult.

"[The] starter will be sorted out once we have a clearer picture moving forward here. We'll know more and we'll clear that up."

Regardless of who plays quarterback Sunday at Soldier Field, the Bears offense will look to rebound from last Sunday's 26-6 loss at the Browns.

"That's where you rely on your coaching staff," Nagy said. "That's where you rely on your players, with those conversations that we have. When you go through a bad, ugly game like that, there's a lot of emotions that come into play. There's a lot of opinions that come into play, and that's only fair. You have to be able to accept that.

"You've got to be able to have tough conversations, and I feel like that's one of my strengths, is to have a tough conversation individually, one-on-one … There is a lot of stuff that we need to correct. But when you have those conversations, it makes it a hell of a lot easier to be able to trust each other. That's the other part of this thing, too, is that trust factor, building relationships. Having healthy conversations will help you when you get to practices, will help you when you get to gameday."

When Nagy was asked Monday whether he would consider relinquishing play-calling duties, he said that "everything's on the table" and would seek input from those both inside and outside Halas Hall.

Nagy apparently had those discussions but declined on Wednesday to divulge whether he would continue to call plays against the Lions.

"I think probably the best part of the last 48 to 72 hours is we've had some amazing healthy conversations between coaches and coaches, between coaches and players, players and players," Nagy said. "That's what I appreciate most and so, without getting into specifics of what we're going to do and how we're going to do it—not just [play-calling] but other topics—I'm going to keep that internal, and I think that's the best part right now for us."

The Bears took to the practice fields at Halas Hall Wednesday afternoon ahead of Sunday's NFC North battle with the Lions at Soldier Field.

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