Bears' Justin Fields to Start vs. Vikings After Missing 2 Games with Ankle Injury

The Chicago Bears will get one more opportunity to assess Justin Fields' development in his rookie season.

Head coach Matt Nagy announced Fields will start Sunday's season finale against the Minnesota Vikings after missing the past two games with an ankle injury.

Fields suffered the injury during the first half of Chicago's loss to the Vikings in Week 15, but he played the rest of the game before alerting the team the following day.

"When you're playing in the game, you've got a bunch of adrenaline going on," Fields told reporters Dec. 22. "So that's when I first felt it, but I was still good enough to play through it. Of course, it got worse after the game and the next morning. But it felt better [Wednesday] morning."

Fields was a limited participant in practice before last week's game, but Nagy elected to hold him out. Andy Dalton got the start and went 18-of-35 for 173 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 29-3 win over the New York Giants. 

Sunday will mark Fields' 11th start of the season. The Bears traded up to select him with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

Fields has gone through his share of growing pains as a rookie. He is completing 58.9 percent of his attempts for 1,870 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The Ohio State alum had his best game of the season against the Vikings two weeks ago despite the injury. He went 26-of-39 for 285 yards and a touchdown in the 17-9 loss.