The Bears plan to start Justin Fields at quarterback Sunday against the Lions, coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday.

Fields dislocated his right thumb after trying to throw away the ball while being sacked by the Vikings’ Danielle Hunter on Oct. 15. He returned to practice, albeit on a limited basis, on Nov. 3, two days before the Bears’ loss to the Saints. He was limited during the Bears’ short run-up to their “Thursday Night Football” win against the Panthers but was ruled out a day before the game.

Fields has seven weeks left to show the Bears whether or not he can be their franchise quarterback moving forward. If the answer is the latter — he needs to make up a lot of ground for it to be anything else — the Bears figure to draft a quarterback this spring. They have the Panthers’ first-round pick, which would be No. 1 overall were the season to end today, as well as their own.

Fields’ 91.6 passer rating ranks 14th in the NFL. His season has been a rollercoaster, though, with his disappointing start obscured, statistically, by standout performances against the Commanders and the Broncos. He threw eight touchdowns in those two games; his 11 this season rank 16th in the NFL.

Tyson Bagent, the Bears’ undrafted rookie, went 2-2 in Fields’ place as the starter.