The Chicago Bears lost quarterback Justin Fields to a right hand injury in the third quarter of a 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The loss dropped the Bears to 1-5 but more importantly brought into question the status of their starting quarterback.

Fields was trying to get rid of the ball as Vikings outside linebacker Danielle Hunter took him down for a sack. Fields’ hand reached out to toss the ball and then hit the ground before his body did.

Fields held his hand as he walked to the sideline and sat on the bench briefly before heading into the medical tent and then the locker room. The Bears ruled him out of the game before the third quarter was over.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus said after the game that X-rays on Fields’ hand were negative and that he will have an MRI on Monday. Eberflus said Fields wanted to return to the game but couldn’t grip the ball.

Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent, who played at Division II Shepherd and earned a roster spot and the backup job with a strong preseason performance, took over at quarterback.

Bagent completed 10 of 14 passes for 83 yards with an interception and also had a lost fumble and a touchdown run.

The Bears had a chance to take the lead with 6 minutes, 44 seconds to play and down 19-13.

Bagent led the Bears to the Vikings 35-yard line but threw an interception to cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who was well in front of target DJ Moore.

It was Bagent’s second turnover. On his third NFL snap, Bagent fumbled on a strip-sack by Vikings safety Josh Metellus. Jordan Hicks recovered and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown and a 19-6 Vikings lead.

Bagent did, however, lead the only Bears touchdown drive.

On his third drive, Bagent sparked the Bears with passes of 18 and 24 yards to Moore. He connected with D’Onta Foreman for a 2-yard gain on third-and-1 and followed it with an 11-yard pass to Robert Tonyan to get the Bears to the 9-yard line. Two plays later, Bagent scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Vikings lead to 19-13 with 7:46 to play.

The Bears offense had a rough day before Bagent entered. Fields completed 6 of 10 passes for 58 yards with no touchdowns, an interception and a 36.7 passer rating. He was sacked four times.

Facing a Vikings offense without star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the Bears held the Vikings to one touchdown and two field goals.

Read more from Week 6.

Pressure gets to Bears — and QB Justin Fields is sacked 4 times: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Week 6 loss
Column: How bad is Justin Fields’ hand injury? After another loss, what does it mean for the Bears’ direction?
X-rays on Justin Fields’ hand are negative, but the Bears wait to see if he or Tyson Bagent will start next

Here’s how the game unfolded.

Inactives announced

The Bears will have their entire starting secondary active for the first time since the season opener when they play the Vikings on Sunday at Soldier Field.

Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and safety Eddie Jackson are active after absences, though Gordon didn’t warm up with the starting defense pregame. Greg Stroman Jr. was at the nickel spot in warmups.

Gordon hasn’t played since the opener after he went on injured reserve with a broken hand. Johnson missed two games with a hamstring injury. Jackson missed three games with a foot injury he said was different than the one that ended his season in 2022.

Center Lucas Patrick also is active after going through concussion protocol last week.

The Bears previously ruled out running backs Khalil Herbert, whom they put on IR with an ankle injury, Roschon Johnson (concussion) and Travis Homer (hamstring).

Cornerback Terell Smith is out with an ankle injury and an illness. The Bears put wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on IR on Friday.

Nathan Peterman is inactive but will be the emergency third quarterback behind Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent. Offensive lineman Aviante Collins is also inactive.

For the Vikings, safety Lewis Cine, tight end Nick Muse, outside linebacker Andre Carter II, offensive tackle Hakeem Adeniji and defensive lineman Jaquelin Roy are inactive.

Halftime: Vikings lead 12-6 after teams trade late takeaways

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins hit rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison with a 10-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 12-6 halftime lead against the Bears.

Before that, only the Bears and Vikings kickers had scored.

The Bears’ Cairo Santos made field goals from 53 and 22 yards and the Vikings’ Greg Joseph was good from 53 and 51 as the teams were knotted at 6 before the late Vikings drive. Rasheem Green blocked Joseph’s extra point after the touchdown.

The Bears and Vikings traded takeaways late in the second quarter for an eventful finish to the half.

Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards hit Cousins’ arm as he was trying to pass. The ball floated into the air, and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds dived to grab it, giving the Bears the ball at the Vikings 35. Ruled an interception on the field, game statisticians listed it as a fumble recovery.

But Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks intercepted Bears quarterback Justin Fields on the ensuing drive, and the Vikings scored on Cousins’ pass to complete an eight-play, 77-yard drive.

The Bears passing offense that looked so good against the Washington Commanders in Week 5 didn’t show up much in the half.

The Bears had minus-3 passing yards through their first three drives before Fields hit Darnell Mooney with a 39-yard pass to get to the Vikings 41-yard line. But they gained only 5 more yards, and Santos made a 53-yarder.

Fields finished the half 6-for-10 for 58 yards with no touchdowns, the one interception and a 36.7 passer rating. He was sacked three times.

Fields was sacked twice on the Bears’ first drive, and they punted. The Bears took to the ground on their second drive, handing off to D’Onta Foreman, Darrynton Evans and Velus Jones Jr. and totaling 65 rushing yards.

But they couldn’t get in the end zone after having first-and-goal at the 7, and Santos made a 22-yard field goal to tie it at 3-3.

Joseph made field goals from 53 yards on the Vikings’ first drive and 51 on their second to give them a 6-3 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Bears defense looked to have a takeaway when Cousins fumbled a backward pass and Edwards tried to recover it. But replay review determined Edwards was out of bounds before recovering.

Bears right guard Nate Davis left in the first quarter after he suffered an ankle injury on a Fields pass to Khari Blasingame. He had to be helped off the field by trainers. Ja’Tyre Carter took over for Davis. The Bears said Davis was questionable to return.

The Bears announced safety Eddie Jackson, who rotated drives with Elijah Hicks, was questionable to return with a foot injury.

3rd quarter: Justin Fields leaves with right hand injury

Bears quarterback Justin Fields went into the medical tent on the sideline after a third-quarter sack and then headed to the locker room.

Fields walked off the field and appeared to be holding his right hand. He sat briefly on the bench before going with a trainer into the tent. It didn’t take long before he emerged to go to the locker room.

With 4:21 to play in the third quarter, the Bears ruled out Fields from returning to the game.

On third-and-7 on the Bears’ first drive of the second half, Vikings outside linebacker Danielle Hunter took down Fields for a loss of 5 yards. It was the fourth Vikings sack of the day.

As Fields was in the locker room, rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent began warming up on the sideline. He entered the game on the next Bears drive for his regular-season NFL debut.

On Bagent’s third snap, he was sacked by safety Josh Metellus and fumbled, and linebacker Jordan Hicks picked up the loose ball and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown and a 19-6 Vikings lead.

Catch up on the rest of our coverage.

‘I feel like I am just playing ball’

A long weekend coming off the most complete performance in Justin Fields’ three seasons gave the Bears quarterback an opportunity to reflect.

The passing game in the last two games has looked, well, like a full-fledged attack and that’s not something we’ve seen with any regularity in these parts. Whether Fields reflected or not, he didn’t have anything revelatory to share about what those at Halas Hall have to hope is a breakthrough.

“I think I’m just focused on continuing to get better each and every day,” Fields said. “The offense, as a whole, we’ve gotten better each and every week. Our main goal is to just do that.” Read more here.

Column: It’s fun to dream of Bears picking 1-2 in the NFL draft, but the path to becoming a real challenger requires success now
Bears Q&A: What if QB Caleb Williams refused to come to Chicago on the No. 1 pick?

All eyes on the RB

The Bears ruled out their top three running backs — Khalil Herbert (ankle), Roschon Johnson (concussion) and Travis Homer (hamstring). That leaves D’Onta Foreman as the best rushing option.

Foreman, who has been in the NFL since 2017, said Thursday he was calm and confident as he prepares for the opportunity. He was pushed into action midseason with the 2021 Tennessee Titans and the 2022 Carolina Panthers and performed well. He rushed for 914 yards last season with the Panthers.

The Bears placed Herbert on injured reserve Friday, meaning he will miss at least four games.

D’Onta Foreman — pushed out of the running back mix early — is ready for his opportunity with the Bears

Tributes for Butkus

Bears players will wear No. 51 patches on their jerseys for the remainder of the season to pay tribute to late Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus.

The patch is one of several ways the Bears plan to honor Butkus, who died in his sleep at age 80 last week at his home in Malibu, Calif..

At Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, the Bears will have an on-field display of his retired No. 51 jersey. A Butkus memorial will sit at the stadium’s South Courtyard by Gate 1, a space where fans can see his Pro Football Hall of Fame bust and receive a commemorative button. A locker-room display with a Butkus jersey will be at Gate 7.

The Bears plan to have several in-game tributes. Read more here.

Column: Dick Butkus personified Chicago’s toughness with the Bears. ‘There was no way that guy wasn’t going to be great.’

Stats package

The Bears have lost 9 consecutive division losses, going winless in the NFC North since downing the Lions 16-14 in Detroit on Thanksgiving in 2021.

Since Lovie Smith was fired after the 2012 season, the Bears have a .311 winning percentage (19-42) in division games. Justin Fields is 1-9 as a starter in NFC North games, including an 0-2 mark against the Vikings. Read more here.

Bears Week 6 storylines: Luke Getsy’s grounded outlook, Jaylon Johnson’s revised test and the threat of T.J. Hockenson
4 things we learned about the Bears, including DJ Moore’s NFC award and Teven Jenkins’ search for Wendy’s alternatives
Bears coach Matt Eberflus hopes to add a senior defensive analyst to his staff
Column: A Bears win — finally! — plus all the good vibes that come with it. ‘It’s a feeling you never want to end.’
Bears trade Chase Claypool to the Dolphins with an exchange of late-round 2025 draft picks

()

The Orioles’ streak of 91 regular-season series without being swept defined their 2023 campaign before the club’s unprecedented year ended in “ironic” fashion, as center fielder Cedric Mullins put it, with a sweep in the American League Division Series.

That streak is technically still intact, but the next time Baltimore is in the playoffs, a new one will be the focus.

With their three-and-out in the ALDS against the Rangers, the Orioles have lost eight consecutive postseason games — the worst stretch in franchise history and the longest active streak in the sport. Only nine teams in MLB history have suffered a longer such streak.

“You never want to be on a streak,” Orioles fan Nathan Skidmore said before Game 3 of the ALDS. “You never want people to be able to pull that up on a graphic and be like, ‘Eight in a row.’

“Anytime you’re on a streak like that, I think you start to worry like, ‘Are we ever going to win again?’”

Entering the playoffs, the Minnesota Twins owned one of MLB’s most ignominious records. From 2004 to 2020, they lost 18 straight postseason games, but with their win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild-card round (which Minnesota swept), the Twins finally exorcised their playoff demons.

The active leaders then became the Tampa Bay Rays, who were swept by the Rangers in the wild-card round, and Blue Jays at seven consecutive playoff losses. That is, until the Orioles, the AL’s top seed by tallying 101 wins in the regular season, failed to record any in the 2023 playoffs.

“I’m glad they got the experience,” manager Brandon Hyde said after Tuesday’s loss at Globe Life Field. “I hate the outcome because these guys deserve all the credit in the world for the season they just had. I hope people can recognize that.”

Baltimore fans need no reminder, but the streak dates to the gut-wrenching 2014 AL Championship Series. Those Orioles won 96 games and an AL East title, sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS to enter the ALCS versus the Kansas City Royals as World Series favorites. Then, the Royals swept the Orioles by a difference of only six runs — a pair of two-run losses at Camden Yards and two one-run defeats in Kansas City.

Two years later, lest fans forget, Baltimore lost to the Blue Jays in the wild-card game, as the most recent playoff season before 2023 ended with Ubaldo Jiménez giving up a walk-off home run to Edwin Encarnación after Buck Showalter chose not to bring in All-Star closer Zack Britton in extra innings.

Those who were a part of the successful 2014 and 2016 seasons and the subsequent postseason collapses had virtually nothing to do with the 2023 playoff failure. The front office has been overhauled. A new manager is on the dugout’s top step. And virtually no players on either of those teams played for Baltimore in 2023 after the franchise’s painful rebuild bore fruit this year.

The constant throughout the eight playoff losses has been Baltimore fans — those who experienced the Royals small-ball the Orioles to elimination and then two years later screamed at their televisions as Britton sat in the bullpen. They watched each one with high hopes, only to be let down time after time — a now-playoff tradition that continued into 2023. This year, they cheered from Camden Yards’ stands during the one-run loss Saturday and the walk-fest Sunday, only to see one of the best teams in the Orioles’ 70-season history get swept out of the postseason on the road in Game 3.

“I’m hopeful that the team will learn something,” said Dan Bollinger, a lifelong Orioles fan who attended Game 2 in Baltimore and Game 3 in Arlington, Texas. “Going from over 100 losses to this year’s record is great. It’s been tough being an Orioles fan for the last few years, but I’m still hopeful.”

What makes the ALDS sweep harder to swallow is the missed opportunity it represents. A 101-win team should, in theory, be a World Series contender, but the Rangers, who won 11 fewer games than Baltimore, were more apt for the rigors of October baseball. A bevy of smart decisions by the Orioles’ front office over the past five years is what allowed them to be the AL’s top team, but its reluctance to make significant investments similar to those made by their opponents proved costly.

Whether executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, who has yet to hand out a multiyear contract to a free agent since he was hired to shepherd the rebuild in November 2018, or, more importantly, Chairman and CEO John Angelos are willing to spend to bolster this roster and keep the Orioles’ young core intact remains a question. Large-market teams, in theory, can have a wider championship window given their financial advantages, but the club’s reluctance thus far to spend anywhere near those teams — the Orioles ranked 29th out of 30 teams in payroll entering the season, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts — could make the squandering of 2023′s opportunity sting even more.

“What I worry about more than bringing in big free agents is, ‘Are they going to extend our guys?’ I like the guys on this team. I like Adley Rutschman. I like Gunnar Henderson,” said Skidmore, a 25-year-old Northern Virginia native who now lives in Fort Worth, Texas. “When it comes to the owner spending money, I almost don’t want them to spend on free agents so we can extend our guys.

“But John Angelos doesn’t fill me with confidence as someone that’s going to do what it takes to make sure the team is on top.”

With playoff expansion over the years, streaks such as the Orioles’ are becoming more common. Six of the nine teams in MLB history with longer streaks had them end after the wild-card era began in 1994. Currently, all five clubs in the AL East — considered the sport’s most daunting division — have playoff losing streaks of at least three games. The Orioles, Rays, Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have combined to lose 29 consecutive postseason games, seven of which occurred this postseason as all three AL East clubs to qualify were swept.

Yet, amid the sadness in the Orioles’ clubhouse Tuesday night was optimism for the future. Baltimore believes this is just the beginning, and it’s not hard to envision why. Henderson, Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad are all 25 or younger. Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez blossomed into legitimate top-of-the-rotation starters in the second half. And the organization boasts the sport’s top-ranked farm system, according to Baseball America, with prospects Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and Chayce McDermott on the cusp of the big leagues.

“I think a lot of us are disappointed, are sad,” pitcher Tyler Wells said. “But I think, too, this is something that we’re gonna hold onto and carry that chip on our shoulder.”

Still, though, the next time the Orioles are in the postseason, the streak will follow the club — and the fan base — like a dark cloud. Austin Hays, one of the players who survived the 100-loss seasons of the rebuild, stated after Tuesday’s loss what his goal is in 2024 and beyond: to deliver a playoff win — and much more — to Baltimore fans.

“The most rewarding thing was just seeing our fans come back into that stadium and get to see that playoff atmosphere at home,” Hays said. “That’s what I want. That’s what I want to play for. I want to be in that environment.

“I want to play all 162 knowing we’re gonna get back to that next year and get back to that moving forward cause that was a hell of an experience.”

Baltimore Sun reporter Nathan Ruiz contributed to this article.

()

It was only about a month into his big league tenure when Orioles rookie Jordan Westburg got a memorable piece of advice from 10-year veteran Aaron Hicks.

Westburg had just rocketed a pitch down the third base line in the ninth inning, with the Orioles trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-3 on July 18. For a moment, after his feet crossed the bag at first, he contemplated sprinting for second. But he thought better of it, and stayed put.

With the Orioles so far behind, the play would prove virtually meaningless. The O’s lost by that same score just a few batters later. But the play meant something to Hicks.

“After the game, Aaron Hicks came up to me and he was like, ‘Hey, man, our style of baseball is aggressive here. I think you should have gone for it,’” Westburg said.

For an Orioles team packed with young big leaguers, those tidbits of guidance will perhaps become even more important — particularly when they come from the few current Orioles with postseason experience, like Hicks.

With the team set for its first postseason appearance since 2016 on Saturday against the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards, only six Orioles have any playoff experience. Hicks, who was released by the New York Yankees and picked up by the Orioles in May, has the most playoff appearances, with 30 games under his belt and a combined .216 batting average and .325 on-base percentage.

Backup catcher James McCann and second baseman Adam Frazier, both of whom were signed this past offseason, are the only other Orioles position players to have seen playoff action, with a combined eight games.

“I’m very grateful for guys like him and McCann and Frazier to show us the ropes as position players who have been there, done that,” said Westburg, who made his major league debut June 26.

In sports psychology, there are two schools of thought when it comes to the best way to get ready for a big game, said Dr. Mark Aoyagi, a psychology consultant to MLB and NFL teams.

The first school? Treat a playoff game like any other. Avoid stressing yourself out by thinking of how important it is.

“The bases are still 90 feet, the mound is still 60 feet, 6 inches,” Aoyagi said. “It’s all the same, and so you just approach it the same.”

But Aoyagi finds himself more persuaded by the second school.

”The other approach says: Basically, there’s no way to prepare for the big game. And so rather than trying to have everything be the same, you just train for any eventuality,” Aoyagi said. “You could feel fine, but you could also feel chaotic. Or you could feel tired or you could be sick.

“The idea is to train in such a way that regardless of how you end up feeling, thinking, how your body is on that particular day, you’re still going to be able to perform to the best of your capabilities,” said Aoyagi, who is also a professor and co-director of sport and performance psychology at the University of Denver.

Stephany Coakley, a certified mental performance consultant who has worked with professional and Olympic-level athletes, recommends athletes prepare a kind of ritual to ground themselves in the present, rather than worrying about the outcome of a game.

“It’s imperative that they use whatever techniques that they have to come back to the present moment, whether it’s like tapping into their breath, taking a deep breath or doing their reset: taking their hat off or flipping their glove,” said Coakley, who also serves as senior associate athletic director for mental health performance and wellness at Temple University.

There is also another noteworthy remedy to stress in sports, said Dr. Brad Hatfield, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland, who has focused his research on sports psychology.

Laughter.

Hatfield said he recalls speaking with a group of high school baseball coaches, and one of their most common questions was what to say to a young pitcher struggling on the mound.

“And I told them to keep it very simple — and even to tell a joke,” Hatfield said.

Across the Orioles clubhouse, everyone has their own strategy for staying cool. For outfielder Anthony Santander, it’s taking a moment to pray before games. For reliever Jacob Webb, another recent addition to the roster with a few games of playoff experience, it’s focusing on his breathing during stressful situations.

For 25-year-old rookie reliever DL Hall, it comes in the form of a mantra, of sorts.

”It’s all about — I always say — not running away from the storm. Everything is a storm — all the extra, outside noise,” Hall said. “Instead of trying to run from it, you just kind of embrace the storm. It’s going to come either way.”

With an average age of 27.9 years, according to ESPN, the Orioles’ current roster sits close to the middle of the MLB pack.

But only one team remaining in the playoffs is younger: the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Rangers are the second oldest, with an average age of 30. The Dodgers are first with an average age of 30.5.

Several of the Orioles’ best players are in their early 20s and set to make their postseason debuts.

That includes 22-year-old infielder Gunnar Henderson, a leading candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year, who is also the only player on the roster born in the 2000s.

It also includes 23-year-old pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, who cruised to a 1.80 ERA in his final six starts of the season, following a brief demotion to the minor leagues after beginning the year with an ERA above 7.00.

Some young Orioles, like Henderson and Rodriguez, bypassed college ball to sign with the team, but others gained postseason experience there, including 25-year-old star catcher Adley Rutschman.

In the 2018 College World Series — as a sophomore — Rutschman helped lead the Oregon State Beavers to the championship, setting a record for the most hits in the series with 17.

To win the championship that year, the Beavers defeated the University of Arkansas, where Orioles rookie Heston Kjerstad, now 24, played outfield. Kjerstad was named to the All-Tournament Team as a freshman.

But postseason games in the majors are different.

And veteran Kyle Gibson, one of three Orioles pitchers with a postseason resume, said the conversations about how to prepare for key moments have begun already.

Before the Orioles played the Tampa Bay Rays, their closest division rival, at Camden Yards in mid-September, Gibson reminded his teammates not to overemphasize the moment.

”We sat down, and I said: ‘Listen, everybody is going to come in here and make this to be the biggest series of the year,’” Gibson said. “The biggest series for us is going to be the first game in the playoffs that we play.”

Yet, when those games finally arrive, the message might change.

”As these young guys get closer to it, and get in the moment, I know the other veteran players are just going to be telling them: ‘Hey, yes there [are] more consequences for losses, but at the same time, the game is still the same. And if you make more of it, it really kind of gives you just the chance to put too much pressure on yourself.”

On the advantages of age in baseball, at least one mathematician has run the numbers.

In 2017, Kennesaw State University professor Joe DeMaio published a paper that tracked the average age of World Series-winning teams, compared with the major league average. The results don’t exactly bode well for the Orioles.

DeMaio studied the most recent 39 World Series-winning teams, separating them into two categories: batters and pitchers.

Twenty-eight of the 39 teams had an average batters’ age that was older than the rest of the majors. When it came to pitching, 30 of the teams were older than the league average.

And not only were World Series-winning teams older than the average — they were often significantly older, ranking in the top 25% of the league.

But DeMaio has a message for hopeful Orioles fans in Baltimore: