It was a day of injuries and attrition for NFL quarterbacks. Six of them were hurt during Sunday’s early-afternoon games, and four teams were left needing to sort through their starting quarterback possibilities moving forward.
Dalton’s knee injury could accelerate the Bears’ timetable to promote prized rookie Justin Fields to be their starter. The Dolphins went to Jacoby Brissett after Tagovailoa’s rib injury Sunday. The Colts turned to Jacob Eason after Wentz hurt his ankle, and Taylor’s hamstring injury led to the Texans going with rookie Davis Mills.
“It was crazy,” Fields said in his postgame news conference. “You’re constantly told: ‘Be ready. You never know what may happen.’ And it happened, of course. Andy came out, and then I just got thrown in. I think I was pretty prepared. But there were definitely mistakes made out there. I’m just going to go watch the film and learn from those mistakes.”
Fields threw an interception in a 6-for-13, 60-yard passing performance in relief of Dalton as the Bears beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-17, to even their record at 1-1. Fields also had 31 yards on 10 carries.
Coach Matt Nagy said the Bears expected to know more about the extent of Dalton’s knee injury in 24 to 48 hours. Nagy said it did not appear Dalton suffered a torn ACL, adding that he would have reentered the game if anything had happened to Fields. There already has been plenty of clamoring for a permanent switch to Fields, who was chosen by the Bears with the 11th selection in this year’s draft.
“I just try to keep that calm mind-set and calm mentality to just not make the moment bigger than it is and just go out there and play football,” Fields said, “because that’s all it is, at the end of the day.”
Wentz’s run of bad luck continued when he had his right leg bent beneath Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald while being dragged to the turf in Indianapolis by the three-time NFL defensive player of the year. Wentz said in his postgame news conference that he “felt it right away, and it did not feel good.” He said he tried to finish the game after having his ankle taped but was unable to continue playing.
“It’s a bad feeling to not be able to finish the game in that situation,” Wentz said. “You kind of feel like you let the team down a little bit.”
The Colts were awaiting test results. Wentz told reporters that he was hopeful his ankle was not broken. Coach Frank Reich said Wentz “rolled his ankle up pretty good” and wanted to keep playing but “there was no chance.”
The Colts traded for Wentz in the offseason to reunite him with Reich, his former offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles. But Wentz underwent foot surgery in training camp, only to return and be forced into quarantine as a high-risk close contact under the league’s coronavirus protocols before the season. The Colts dropped to 0-2 with Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Rams.
Tagovailoa exited the Dolphins’ 35-0 defeat to the Buffalo Bills with his rib injury and was replaced by Brissett, the former starter for the Colts. Coach Brian Flores said he’s hopeful Tagovailoa won’t miss any games but further tests are required.
The Dolphins have been linked to a potential trade for Deshaun Watson, who was on the Texans’ game day inactive list for a second straight weekend while facing 22 active lawsuits by women accusing him of sexual misconduct. Brissett expressed confidence he can get the job done if needed.
“I’m a starter,” Brissett said in his postgame news conference.
Taylor, who has taken over for Watson as the Texans’ starter, left their 31-21 defeat at Cleveland and was replaced by Mills, a third-round draft pick out of Stanford. The rookie is in line to make his first NFL start this week, with a quick turnaround for a Thursday night game at home against the Carolina Panthers.
Mills threw a touchdown pass and an interception in his appearance Sunday while connecting on 8 of 18 passes for 102 yards.
“I didn’t think it was too much,” Mills said in his postgame news conference.
Carr played through an ankle injury as the Raiders upped their record to 2-0 with a 26-17 triumph at Pittsburgh. Mayfield did not miss a snap in the Browns’ victory over the Texans despite hurting his left, non-throwing shoulder while trying to make a tackle following an interception.