Chicago Bears don’t plan for rookie QB Justin Fields to start the season opener as coach Matt Nagy reiterates, ‘Andy Dalton is our starter’

Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune
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Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy has a plan for Justin Fields, and it does not include the rookie quarterback starting the season opener Sept. 12 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Nagy confirmed that to Chicago media Tuesday after the opening day of mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall when the coach was asked if Fields is unable to win the job in training camp.

“Yes, correct,” Nagy said. “Andy Dalton is our starter.”

Nagy already made that statement about Dalton this offseason, and he’ll likely have to do it many more times before the Bears and Rams meet on “Sunday Night Football” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. That’s how it goes when a city starved for quality quarterback play sees its potential rescuer drafted in the first round.

Nagy understands that, but he emphasized that the Bears want Fields to follow the development course they are mapping out before he takes over as the starter for what they hope will be years to come.

“We all get excited about Justin Fields,” he said. “We’d all be lying if we said something different. With that said, we’re excited about Andy Dalton too. And we know that if we stick to this plan that we have, that everything is going to be just fine.”

One month into Fields’ time on the field with the Bears, the plan is still about taking small steps in his transition from Ohio State to the NFL.

Nagy said he tried to listen in on Fields’ play calls when he took the No. 2 reps Tuesday to measure his progress.

“Is he getting the play calls rhythmically into the players?” Nagy said. “If we were to pull any one of you guys off of this and get you in the huddle and tell you to call a play, you are going to call the play and probably just read the words as fast as you can but not really speak to the players. And that is what we are working on right now. It’s rhythmically speaking the play to the players and slowing him down a little bit in the huddle.”

The gist is there’s a long way to go before the Bears hand the reins to Fields.

Bears fans probably don’t want to hear it, but the team has been consistent in its stance that Dalton is starting. Nagy said he didn’t make Dalton a promise — “promises can get pretty crazy,” he said — but he told Dalton as much. And he is giving Dalton all of the No. 1 practice reps this offseason.

“There were no promises, but we told him and I specifically told him, ‘You’re our starter,’ ” Nagy said. “They know their roles and know it’s their job to be the best quarterback they can be.

“I’ll just be very clear: That being said, does that mean that these guys aren’t competing? Absolutely not. They’re competing. They want to be the best and they wouldn’t want each other to be any different.”

Does that leave an opening for the Bears to alter their plans?

Who knows. Circumstances change. But for now, if Bears fans are booking tickets to LA in September, they shouldn’t plan on seeing Fields’ regular-season debut.