It's a rather inconvenient time for the Bears to be without their head coach.The announcement by the team on Saturday that Matt Nagy will mi s the game against the San Francisco 49ers means the Bears are without their coach for a game that could be pivotal for their season, if not Justin Fields' immediate development.Only they could have such luck, it seems.This is a pivotal week because they are using a rookie quarterback and face a tough schedule ahead Kendall Graveman Jersey after falling back to 3-4, but also because of the trade deadline looming on Tuesday.The fork in the road they are approaching looks like this: On one side is a road leading toward competition for a playoff berth. On the other side is the developmental road, one on which Fields most likely battles with inexperience factors through his rookie year and the Bears don't seriously challenge for a wild card. Fields is either going to stand up and show drastic improvement as a pa ser, or simply be developed in a losing season like most other rookie quarterbacks. That could mean dealing some veterans by Tuesday and giving up chances for a playoff spot.The route they take could very well depend on the outcome against San Francisco because a 4-4 team looks far more capable of challenging for a playoff berth against a schedule that has Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Arizona, Green Bay, Seattle and Minnesota twice. A 3-5 team is probably only dreaming of a playoff berth against that schedule, not competing for one.It's already a difficult enough chore for Fields to make the playoffs simply being the rookie starter. Baez El Mago Jersey Since the year 2000, there have been 360 quarterbacks drafted into the NFL and only 10 of those who started more than six games have taken their team into the playoffs as rookies. One is on the Bears rosterAndy Dalton in 2011 with Cincinnati. No rookie starter for more than six games has quarterbacked a team into the playoffs since Lamar Jackson in 2018. Albert Almora Jr Jersey The problems facing rookies are enormous, and the Bears have experienced them since Fields made his first start in a debacle against Cleveland. There are i sues for any rookie with knowing the offense, with reading defenses and picking up blitzesespecially with picking up blitzes. And Fields has had his share of failed blitz reads, though offensive coordinator Bill Lazon believes it is now largely in the past."You remember in the preseason when he had his helmet knocked off?" Lazor said. "Do you remember that one?"The sight was hard for anyone to forget. "That was (being) unaware of a blitz that he was responsible for," Lazor said. "He learned."Since then, though, the Bears got blitzed into oblivion by the Buccaneers last week and by the Browns. So Lazor apparently isn't pinning the blame for this all on Fields. "I think he's actually done pretty well," Lazor said.The numbers either say he hasn't, or the offensive line is terrible. They lead the league in sacks allowed with 26.Fields has a a pa ser rating of 61.8 and yards per attempt of 6.2, and both are troubling. Even Mitchell Trubisky was better after five starts at 7.03 per attempt and a 75.6 rating, although he regre sed in yards per attempt through the rest of his career.Scroll to ContinueThis in and of itself isn' Carlos Zambrano Jersey t an indictment of Fields. After all, Josh Allen had a 62.5 rating and 6.1 yards per attempt through his first five starts and look at him now. But the Bills weren't going to the playoffs in his rookie year with numbers like this and the Bears won't be, either."I mean the season's not over with," Fields said. "We've still got 10 games left, 11 games left, something like that."It's hard to keep track these days with a 17-game schedule.The goal, Fields said: "So, just keep getting better. Don't pre s. There's no need to stre s right now. It's not the end of the world. So keep going."Fields has plenty of time to develop, as it should be with a rookie.If the Bears want to make the playoffs this year, though, they're going to need to make a stand now and do it with their rookie quarterback and Sunday without their head coach.The QB development looks a great deal more likely than the playoff run at this point.Rookie Starting QBs for Playoff Teams(Since 2000, 7 starts or more)Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh, 2004Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 2008Joe Flacco, Baltimore, 2008Mark Sanchez, N.Y. Jets, 2009Andy David Bote Jersey Dalton, Cincinnati, 2011Andrew Luck, Indianapolis, 2012Robert Griffin III, Washington, 2012Ru sell Wilson, Seattle, 2012Dak Prescott, Dallas, 2016Lamar Jackson, Baltimore, 2018