Bears Injury Update: Justin Fields still out, Jaquan Brisker back in concussion protocol

On Monday afternoon, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus met the media at Halas Hall, and he announced that quarterback Justin Fields will be out this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. He still calls Fields “week-to-week” and says his dislocated right thumb is “progressing.” With Fields sidelined, Tyson Bagent will start his third consecutive game.

He also said that safety Jaquan Brisker was back in concussion protocol after initially being cleared by an independent neurologist following the Raiders game. He called the situation “unique,” so here’s how Eberflus explained it via CHGO’s Nicholas Moreano.

“So we reported that he (Brisker) has been ill for a week, so Sunday, Monday he checked out fine with the evaluation and with an independent neurologist being cleared from concussion. He was all set, then Tuesday reported that he was ill, right, and had a fever.”

“That persisted through Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and into Friday. Brought him into the building, so he was in here then. Still not feeling well. We ruled him out on Saturday, and then again wasn’t feeling well. Then his illness cleared Saturday. Then Sunday, he felt he was cleared in terms of his illness and then still felt a little bit off in terms of having different light symptoms and those types of things. So we got him reevaluated, and now he is back into concussion protocol, and that was on Sunday wasn’t feeling well.”

“Then on Monday, this morning, we got him tested again, and he is now back in concussion protocol. So that’s where it is. I understand that’s unique. I’ve never had that happen before, but again he got ill during that process, and then when he was done being ill, he still had the symptoms, and we’re working with Jaquan the whole way. Talking to him, making sure he was squared away. The most important thing is our players’ safety and health. Jaquan did a very good job of communicating with us, and the training staff did a really good job too of seeing this thing all the way through.”

Eberflus also said that the Bears will not practice on Wednesday due to the back-to-back travel for away games (L.A. this past weekend and N.O. this next weekend), and that was decided during training camp to “rest, recover, and keep the guys fresh.”

The Bears will still have an injury report due on Wednesday, where will find out more regarding Tremaine Edmunds, Braxton Jones, and the other injured Bears.

Chicago re-signed offensive lineman Aviante Collins to the practice squad. They released Collins from the 53-man on Saturday to make room for the returning Khalid Kareem.

You can watch Eberflus’ presser here.