Bears' Brian Hoyer: Surgery likely, but not ruled out for season

Hoyer has been diagnosed with a broken radius bone in his left arm and will likely require surgery, but he could return late this season, NFL.com reports.

Analysis:

This report confirms Hoyer's initial diagnosis, and leaves the door open for him to play again in 2016. However, he figures to need several weeks to recover from his injury, and if the Bears place him on injured reserve, he will not be eligible to play again until Week 16 at the earliest. Matt Barkley replaced Hoyer in Thursday's game and is the Bears' de facto starting quarterback for now with Jay Cutler (thumb) banged up, but Cutler will be the favorite to start when healthy, and the team could opt to look outside the organization for quarterback help.