Chicago Bears: 5 Big questions regarding training camp

If every Chicago Bears fan wrote down five big question marks for the team heading into training camp at Halas Hall — we’d all have a few in common — but are coaches and the front office looking for the same answers?

How do our training camp questions compare to other NFL teams? Pretty comparatively I’d say. The Bears are actually balanced up and down the team depth chart for 2021. There are always going to be positions of scarcity and uncertainty, which will be brought up in this article, but the most important box is checked at quarterback.

First Question: What’s the Chicago Bears quarterback battle going to look like?

Quarterback is the position with the highest potential to keep Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace employed for next season as long as all goes right with Justin Fields. It is pivotal that Nagy handles the quarterback situation correctly if he does indeed plan on sticking with Andy Dalton as the starter for the Week 1 Sunday night showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.

Many wonder why the Bears traded all the way up for Fields to not start him right away, but Nagy and the coaching staff have stuck true to their word of keeping Dalton as the starter to begin the season. Even if it’s not the exciting choice, easing Fields in could pay future dividends that we’re just not seeing yet.

I heard this today on a podcast: “The Bears have 2-2 written all over them to begin the year.”

This includes traveling to Los Angeles for the season-opener, then hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, then facing the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 3 before our first NFC North battle comes against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field in Week 4.

Follow-up question: Is Dalton being used as a pawn?

Again, there’s a pretty good chance this is also true. Where do Bears fans sit on wanting Dalton or Fields on prime time television in Week 1 facing monsters like Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey? From my perspective, I’m okay with watching Dalton run for his life against the Rams, but Fields needs starter reps sooner rather than later.

This is just one of many questions Bears fans have for the upcoming season and hopefully more light can be shed in training camp. Because in less than 50 days we will have football back in Chicago baby.