The labyrinth NFL coaches must navigate through summer is finding a balance between training camp and the preseason schedule to emerge as prepared and healthy as possible for the regular season.
Twenty-two days before the Chicago Bears open the season against the Green Bay Packers, coach Matt Eberflus chose to sit nearly all of his starters, including quarterback Justin Fields, on Saturday night against the Indianapolis Colts.
Fields wore a sweatshirt along the sideline from the start at Lucas Oil Stadium with Eberflus effectively saying the most valuable work his front-line players received this week came Wednesday and Thursday in joint practices with the Colts up the road in Westfield, Ind.