Bears expected to have a contingency plan in place for Week 8 with the Commanders' QB decision still up in the air
While the Chicago Bears are dealing with injuries of their own going into a big Week 8 matchup, the biggest injury is on the other side of the ball.Washington Commanders stellar rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels did not practice on Wednesday while dealing with a rib injury sustained in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers.Daniels was […]
While the Chicago Bears are dealing with injuries of their own going into a big Week 8 matchup, the biggest injury is on the other side of the ball.
Washington Commanders stellar rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels did not practice on Wednesday while dealing with a rib injury sustained in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers.
Daniels was injured on the opening drive of the game and did not return. Backup veteran Marcus Mariota played in his place, leading Washington to a 40-7 win.
Obviously quarterback injuries are a big deal for both teams, but game planning for those injuries is harder for the opposite team because you have to prepare for two different quarterbacks while the news is still up in the air.
"It's a similar offense. When you see offenses, you know the different types of players, you know in terms of who they are, quarterback wise," head coach Matt Eberflus said. "But again, our plan will be our plan, and we'll adjust. We'll have a contingency plans for that, for who's in there, but we're going to stick with what we're doing."
As fantastic as Daniels has been over the first few weeks of the season, Mariota showed the league how good he can be as well last week. The veteran quarterback finished the game with 205 yards, two touchdowns, and a 132.8 passer rating.
"Just the experience factor," Eberflus said about Mariota. "He did a nice job if you look at his rating last week, efficient, effective, during the course of that whole game, and pretty much he was in the whole game. Obviously, you guys saw the score, so he did an outstanding job."
The other factor of his game throughout much of his career has been his ability to be a threat with his legs as well. Against the Panthers, Mariota added 11 carries for 34 yards. Even with Daniels, who's rushed for 372 yards a four touchdowns this season, being prepared for a running quarterback will be a major emphasis in the preparation.
"We have guys that are going to do that, but we feel [backup QB Tyson] Bagent is really athletic. He's able to operate that. He's operated that type of offense before, and I think he's going to do a wonderful job that way," Eberflus explained. "But you do have to have contingency plans on who's going to be in there. So if you're facing one quarterback, you may be doing just these set of things towards that quarterback and if there's another, you're going to adjust a little bit of the game plan of course."
Either way, the Bears will be preparing for either quarterback throughout the week and we will get a much clearer answer on what the Commanders will do at the position following practice on Friday.
Bears’ secondary will be in flux yet again in Week 8 after two starters have their week get off to a bad start
Tough news to start the week.
