Quarterback Justin Fields estimated his hip was around 80 percent when the Bears decided to shut him down last week.
“I could’ve [played],” he said Monday, “but I don’t know if I would’ve played my best game.”
He didn’t have a vote.
“Actually it really wasn’t up to me,” he said. “The trainers, they didn’t want me playing. Yeah, I couldn’t be out there.”
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday the Bears would hold out Fields for the finale because of a hip strain discovered by an MRI. He said trainers ruled Fields out, which made any coaching decision moot.
Coincidentally — or not — the Bears weren’t motivated to win their season finale because they were chasing the No. 1 overall draft pick. They landed it when they lost to the Vikings and the Texans beat the Colts.
Fields lost a chance to make history as the greatest rushing quarterback of all time. He finished the season 64 yards shy of breaking Lamar Jackson’s record of 1,206 rushing yards, set in 2019.
“That’s a rushing record — I’m a quarterback,” he said. “I mean, of course it would’ve been really cool to have. … If there was one record I’d like to break, of course that would have to be a passing record.”