Bears’ backup quarterback Jordan Palmer left a crowd of 60,000 fans breathless completing two of his seven passes during a scrimmage at the team’s Family Night at Soldier Field.
After wildly overthrowing receivers on his first four passing attempts, Palmer hit free agent wide receiver Dale Moss with a near-spiral pass, a two-yard out for no gain.
Palmer threw short on his next two passes, but wowed the crowd with a play action completion to back up tight end Dante Rosario after the ball was tipped by defensive lineman Ego Ferguson.
“I nailed it,” Palmer said. “Too bad the play went for an eight-yard loss.”
Fans who witnessed Palmer’s performance couldn’t believe what they saw.
“I went into the preseason thinking the Bears had completely screwed the pooch by letting Josh McCown walk,” said David Johnson of River North. “But knowing we have a backup capable of completing 28 percent of his passes for negative-eight yards tells me that if Cutler goes down to an injury we’ll be right there battling it out with Minnesota for last in the division, and honestly, I think Palmer is just the guy to help us go eight and eight and beat out the Vikings.”
