Trevor Siemian throws a pass for the Chicago Bears vs the New York Jets. Nov 27, 2022; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Trevor Siemian (15) throws a pass against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets steamrolled the Chicago Bears 31-10 in Week 12 NFL action on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. The Bears were without quarterback Justin Fields (left shoulder injury suffered in Week 11), and it showed.

But before the game, a bizarre situation unfolded regarding the Bears’ quarterback situation.

Trevor Siemian was strongly assumed to be the starting quarterback if Fields — who was a game-time decision — couldn’t go. But reports emerged — such as from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo — that Siemian suffered an oblique injury in warm-ups and third-stringer Nathan Peterman would instead have to start for the Bears.

40 minutes later, Sean Hammond of Bears Insider reported, “The Bears now say ‘there’s a chance’ Siemian will start.”

This had football fans everywhere confused, and had social media going wild.

Did Siemian really appear to be hurt and lead the Bears to believe he all of a sudden couldn’t start? If he was hurt, did he really heal that much within an hour? Was this simply a very weird instance of “gamesmanship” from Matt Eberflus and the Chicago coaching staff/front office? And — while Peterman has shown to be another level of bad in the NFL — would the Jets really care about last-minute confusion on which veteran backup pocket quarterback their excellent defense would have to face?

It was Siemian that got the start after all. He completed 14-of-25 passes for 179 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a 75.3 passer rating, to go with four carries for eight yards (not exactly Fields as a rusher). After taking a surprising 10-7 lead with 14:20 remaining in the second quarter, Chicago was outscored 24-0 the rest of the way. If the Bears were trying to play preseason mind games, that strategy wasn’t very effective.

Well, on Tuesday, Bears wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown — who played 23 offensive snaps in the loss — spoke with The 33rd Team about the pregame quarterback drama.

“Okay, so this is crazy. None of us on the team knew this. I forgot who went on Twitter before the game, and was like, ‘Yo, is Trevor not starting?’ 

I’m like, ‘What?’

And he showed me the tweet. I went to [Siemian], and he was like, ‘Nah, I’m playing.’

Then after the game, I was like, yeah, so what happened with that?

Apparently, I don’t know what happened, but someone gave false information. Like, he was a little bit injured, but not really. But, he was starting the whole way through. He was always going to play. I don’t know who said something, who said what. But, it was a complete misunderstanding. He was always going to start the game.”

So, Siemian seemingly was dealing with “a little bit” of an injury, but St. Brown insists that it was never going to be enough to keep the quarterback from starting, and “someone gave false information” and “it was a complete misunderstanding.”

We’re still left with confusion on the situation, of course. Maybe the Bears gave the media bad information (and maybe intentionally for mind games), maybe the Bears truly thought the injury may be more severe in the moment, or maybe the media just misunderstood the injury/information presented.

Whatever the case, according to St. Brown, there was never any doubt among Bears players that Siemian would start.

[The 33rd Team]

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.