5 things on the Bears: Why the Bears should play Fields Sunday ... and be ready to pull him

Let's get this out of the way right off the hop: I believe the Bears are absolutely making the correct decision by continuing to play Justin Fields.

He needs the reps and those with the long view in mind understand this.

The Indianapolis Colts could have sat rookie Peyton Manning down the stretch in 1998, but they let him zing the ball all over the field all the way to the bitter end of a 3-13 campaign. Manning finished with an NFL-high 28 interceptions, but learned plenty in the process.

Still, there comes a point where it's OK to yank Fields - and it came late in the fourth quarter during the Bears' ugly 41-10 loss at Detroit on Sunday.

Yet, coach Matt Eberflus left Fields in.

"In-game experience - there's nothing like it," Eberflus said. "We're not gonna get that anywhere else. That's a really good pass-rushing group, so I thought it was really good to get that experience.

"Now, did it turn out the way he wanted it to or the way we wanted it to? No. It didn't. But you've got to work through that adversity."

True. But only up to a point.

In-game experience should be prioritized, but the wrong kind of it doesn't do a whole lot of good. Also, the risk of injury increases when the opponent has such a massive advantage over your ravaged offensive line.

So if Fields plays against the Vikings on Sunday, they should consider all of this if the score gets out of hand.

Bueller? Bueller?

Chase Claypool has only been in Chicago for two months, but it's fair to wonder if the Steelers fleeced Bears GM Ryan Pace in that trade.

The 6-foot-4 Claypool was brought in to be a difference-maker, yet he has just 12 catches for 111 yards in 6 games. Against the Lions on Sunday, he was targeted once and was in for just 19 of 52 plays.

Now, he was on a snap count due to a nagging knee injury. And, yes, it's never easy to join a team midseason.

But think about the receiving corps Claypool has joined. You'd think Justin Fields would be throwing to him at every conceivable opportunity.

Late in Sunday's loss, Claypool came off the field after a failed third-down attempt and tossed his helmet near a sideline bench. Seconds later, Fields spoke to the incensed wideout.

"Everybody's frustrated," Fields said. "Everybody feels that way. I talked to him. (Throwing stuff isn't) going to do anything. That's not helping anybody. That's just spreading everybody apart. ...

"He's passionate. Just has to learn how to control those emotions and keep them inside and know what's going to be best for the team."

Impressive stuff from Fields. Down the road, we'll see if we ever see any from Claypool.

Take the reins off:

I wrote about the last play of the first half Sunday in my grades, but it's worth going over again here.

After a 63-yard kickoff return by Velus Jones Jr., the Bears had the ball at the Lions' 45-yard line with seven seconds remaining.

The Bears, who had no timeouts remaining, were going to try to pick up 7-10 yards on a sideline pass, but the Lions thwarted that strategy and ended up intercepting Justin Fields' pass.

"The Lions line up in a similar situation that we would," coach Matt Eberflus said. "They put the defensive ends on the outside. They lined outside man-to-man. They had two guys deep and had a guy lurking in the middle, so it was a pretty good formation for them."

Once Fields sees that he should have the ability to audible to a Hail Mary. The sideline pass isn't going to work, so send everybody deep.

These kind of end-of-half decisions continue to baffle me. It's also concerning that offensive coordinator Luke Getsy doesn't give Fields at least some flexibility in these situations.

Rookie woes:

To say that it's been a disappointing season for Velus Jones Jr. would be an understatement. The rookie wideout was injured in preseason and never really hit his stride.

Jones has 6 catches for 79 yards, 8 carries for 61 yards and is averaging 29.2 yards on 18 kickoff returns.

The Bears ought to give Jones plenty of opportunities in the season finale against the Vikings.

"I would like to be the best version of myself, no matter how many snaps, how many kickoff returns I get," Jones said when asked what he wants to accomplish in Week 18. "Be the person that they drafted and (show) my abilities and put that on tape."

By the numbers:

Justin Fields has 1,143 rushing yards, meaning he needs 64 to break Lamar Jackson's single-season record by a quarterback.

Fields' total ranks 19th among all Bears for one season. With 100 yards against the Vikings on Sunday, he would pass Anthony Thomas (1,183 yards in 2001), Thomas Jones (1,210 in 2006), Walter Payton (1,222 in 1981), Gale Sayers (1,231 in 1966) and Matt Forte (1,238 in 2006) to move up to 14th.

As a team, the Bears need just 79 yards to break the 1984 squad's single-season mark of 2,974 yards.

Finally, with 7 yards against the Vikings, tight end Cole Kmet would overtake Darnell Mooney and finish as the team leader.