Bears quarterback Justin Fields was limited in practice Thursday for the second straight day with a left shoulder injury he sustained in last Sunday's loss to the Falcons.

The second-year pro suffered the injury on the Bears' first play of their final possession when he landed hard on his non-throwing shoulder after being tackled on a 1-yard run.

Fields ranks fifth in the NFL in rushing with 834 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries and has thrown for 1,642 yards with 13 TDs, eight interceptions and an 86.2 passer rating.

In the last five games he has accounted for 15 touchdowns, rushing for 552 yards and six TDs on 68 carries and completing 73 of 123 passes for 773 yards with nine TDs, three interceptions and a 92.0 passer rating.

If Fields is unable to play Sunday when the Bears (3-8) visit the Jets (6-4), veteran backup Trevor Siemian would make his first start of the season.

Siemian signed with the Bears March 29. He arrived having appeared in 33 NFL games with 29 starts over six seasons with the Broncos (2015-17), Vikings (2018), Jets (2019), Titans (2020) and Saints (2020-21), completing 58.9 percent of his passes for 6,843 yards with 41 touchdowns, 27 interceptions and an 81.2 passer rating.

Siemian has played in just one game this season, completing his only pass attempt for five yards late in a 49-29 loss to the Cowboys. In the preseason, he connected on 20 of 36 passes for 191 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 98.3 rating.

The Bears' injury report Thursday was identical to Wednesday's version. Cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker and linebacker Sterling Weatherford all remain in concussion protocol and unable to practice.

No chance: Defensive coordinator Alan Williams told reporters that he was sad Fields felt the need to apologize to the defense after last Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Falcons.

Before heading to get his ailing shoulder X-rayed, Fields addressed his teammates in the locker room, saying he was sorry the offense failed to produce the tying or go-ahead points after the defense had held Atlanta to a field goal.

"Really I was sad," Williams said. "I just go, 'No. There's no reason to ever apologize.' If you saw the way he works, if you saw the way he uplifts his teammates, if you saw how he sacrificed, you'd go, 'uh uh, no chance.'

"We appreciate it. We understand because that's what a competitor does; puts the team on his back and shoulders the load. But no chance that he needs to apologize. I think every one of the guys echoed that same sentiment."

Showing improvement: Gordon made excellent open-field tackles on back-to-back plays in the third quarter against the Falcons.

The second-round pick from Washington dropped quarterback Marcus Mariota for no gain on a second-and-10 run and then tackled Cordarrelle Patterson for a two-yard loss on a quick pass, forcing Atlanta to punt.

"The tackling has improved," Williams said. "There were times when he's come in the open field and had missed some tackles, so that's a credit to his position coach (Andre Curtis) in terms of working with him, in terms of showing him what he didn't do maybe a week or two before and repping that. And then it's a credit to him in terms of just improving from one week to the next."

Super deserving: Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower praised veteran DeAndre Houston-Carson for being named the Bears nominee for the ninth annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award. The honor recognizes NFL players who exemplify outstanding sportsmanship on the field.

"He's super deserving," Hightower said. "That award is all about respect for the game, respect for opponents, integrity of the game, and 'DHC' does a great job for us helping the rookies because we've got a lot of rookies. He does a great job of doing that and coming into the meeting room every day and having respect for the opponents, knowing what he's going to face and what the rookies are going to see. He helps out a lot there."

Century mark: Hightower also recognized long-snapper Patrick Scales, who will play in his 100th career NFL regular-season game Sunday versus the Jets.

All but two of those games have come since he joined the Bears in 2015. The Utah State product begin his career with the Ravens, playing in two contests in 2014.

"We're really happy for him and happy to have him," Hightower said. "He's an outstanding guy for us. It's really cool when you can reach 100 games. Definitely want to give him credit there."