We will know very soon if the Chicago Bears will be facing Lamar Jackson at quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens or Tyler Huntley. Lamar Jackson has been dealing with an illness (not COVID-19) all week. The illness kept him from practicing on Wednesday and Thursday, but he was a full participant in Friday’s practice.
The hope was that since he practiced in full on Friday, he would feel well enough to start on Sunday, but reports came out that his status was a 50/50 game-time decision. And, as I am writing this, official reports have come out that Lamar Jackson is inactive for today’s game and Tyler Huntley will start for the first time in his NFL career.
Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson officially is inactive today vs. the Chicago Bears, per source. Tyler Huntley starts.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 21, 2021
Tyler Huntley will start for Lamar Jackson versus Chicago Bears today
This is a huge break for the Chicago Bears as Lamar Jackson has been playing at an MVP level for most of the 2021 season. Instead of facing Jackson, Sean Desai’s defense will not face a second-year undrafted free agent in Tyler Huntley. This will be Huntley’s very first start and it comes on the road versus a Bears defense desperate to make an impact while Justin Fields continues to show development.
Here is what we know about Tyler Huntley ahead of today’s matchup. Huntley was an undrafted free agent out of Utah last season. He threw five passes last year, completing three for a 60% completion percentage. He threw for 15 yards and his longest pass went for eight.
This season, Huntley threw 11 passes in garbage time during a blowout loss to the Bengals. Tyler Huntley completed five of those passes for a 45% completion rate. His longest pass went for 12 yards. Huntley is a rushing threat though. Last year, he ran for 23 yards on 10 attempts. This season he has run for 10 yards on three attempts. Although he is willing to run, he is not anywhere near Lamar Jackson’s talent level.
Tyler Huntley’s best collegiate season was his senior year. He finished with 3,092 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions. Huntley added five rushing touchdowns to his resume, but only averaged 2.8 yards per attempt. He did not show enough to be drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft, but the Ravens signed him as a UDFA.
If the Chicago Bears lose this game, then Matt Nagy should be fired before Monday. We know that it won’t happen as he should have been fired already, but to lose to a player who has only thrown 16 passes in the NFL, even without Khalil Mack, Allen Robinson, Akiem Hicks and Eddie Jackson. There are just no excuses here.