Did Matt Nagy just leave the door open for Justin Fields to start Week 1?

Bears head coach Matt Nagy hasn’t committed to a starting quarterback for Week 1, but he hasn’t ruled out Justin Fields as an option. 

For the first time in the history of human existence, the Chicago Bears are asking themselves who their starting quarterback will be Week 1 with excitement rather than dread.

Rookie Justin Fields continues to settle in and learn an NFL offense at his first training camp, and fans everywhere are wondering if he’ll show enough to earn the starting gig. His competition is Andy Dalton, which is the sort of mundane dread that Bears fans have grown accustomed to when it comes to their quarterback over the years.

Dalton signed with the Bears before Fields was drafted, and at the time Chicago went all-in to tab him as ‘QB1’, going as far as to tweet it.

As we’ve all learned, if it’s on social media it must be true.

When the Bears drafted Fields in April, the game changed entirely. Fields is a rookie, and starting rookies is always a risky move. With as much pressure as there is riding on the success of Fields in Chicago, head coach Matt Nagy is very purposefully taking his time when it comes to beginning the Justin Fields Era.

Bears Rumors: Will Justin Fields start in Week 1?

But for as much as he’s dodged questions about starting Fields Week 1, he continues to leave the door open.

“I want Justin Fields to be electric,” Nagy told the media at Bears training camp. “That’s what we all want.”

To be fair, that answer is mostly a dodge but it’s a classic read between the lines answer that is tailor-made to be read into more than it probably should.

Nagy once again did not commit to Fields as the starter in Week 1, that’s nothing news. He didn’t indicate that Fields blowing coaches away in camp and the preseason to the point where he wins the starting job is out of the question, which is hope that fans are clinging to.