Every time Bears quarterback Justin Fields has been knocked to the ground this season, Trevor Siemian has had the same thought: is this the one?
That’s the life of a backup quarterback. He’s always one brutal hit away from sprinting onto the field.
“Every time the starter gets hit or gets to the ground you keep an eye on him an extra second longer than everybody else,” Siemian said Friday. “That’s part of it. But Justin is a tough dude too. As I watch him, I have that in the back of my mind. You’re monitoring the starter every play.”
Or, this week, in every practice snap.
Fields, who separated his left shoulder and suffered partial ligament damage when he was tackled along the sideline with about two minutes to play in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, was limited for the third-straight practice Friday. The Bears are calling him questionable and doing all they can to make his starter status as blurry as they can.
Being named the starter for the Jets game “would be news to me,” Siemian said.
The Northwestern alum — who started one game for the Jets in 2019 — has thrown one pass for the Bears this season, in a blowout. Amazingly, Fields has yet to miss a snap because of injury, even running once and throwing a pass — albeit an interception — after he hurt his shoulder.
“Every week you’re ready to go,” Siemian said. “You anticipate to play every week, truly. That’s how you have to prepare to stay in it. It could happen the first snap. It could happen on Play 62. You just gotta be ready to roll whenever your number’s called.”
If it is called, the Bears playbook figures to look different. Siemian joked that he’d been studying “some old Wing-T film,” while receiver Chase Claypool tried to maintain, with a smirk, that he’s just as dangerous a runner as the NFL’s leading quarterback runner.
“We call him Trev the Blur,” he said, jokingly.
In reality, a Siemian start would mean a more traditional offensive approach than the scheme that has tried a league-low 229 passes. Siemian, though, doesn’t work often with the team’s first-team receivers. Fields gets almost all the starter reps during a healthy week.
“That’s how it is for a backup quarterback, and that’s kind of the understanding when you come in,” he said. “You’re the 2 —you got to be ready to play whether you get all the reps or none. The expectation is to play and play well.”
Chemistry with the receivers is “as good as it can be” for a backup, Siemian said. When he’s not taking snaps, he knows what to look for.
“That’s part of my job too, is staying back and watching guys run routes, reading their body languages, looking at coverages, staying engaged in the meetings,” he said. “I feel good where that’s at.”
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said Siemian’s experience gives the Bears confidence. He’s started 29 career games — and come off the bench during the game only five times. All but six of his starts came with the Broncos from 2016-07. Siemian replaced Peyton Manning as the Broncos’ starter after the Hall of Famer retired in March 2017.
Siemian went 0-4 as the Saints’ starter last year, but won two games in which he came off the bench to play considerable snaps. On the season he completed 108 of 188 passes for 1,154 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. He had a 88.4 passer rating.
Siemian — who has dealt with a separated left shoulder twice in his career, calling it “uncomfortable” with a wince — won’t be intimidated by the moment, if he needs to play. Head coach Matt Eberflus praised his performance in quarterback meetings all season, citing his “great functional intelligence to be able to operate the offense.”
Whatever it looks like.
“I’m here — I gotta be capable of doing some of [the rushing ] stuff … ” Siemian said. “If I gotta play, I’ll be ready.”
