QB David Fales Leads Bears In 24-0 Rout Of Browns In Preseason Finale

CHICAGO (AP) -- David Fales made his case to be Chicago's third-string quarterback, throwing two touchdown passes, and the Bears closed out the preseason with a 24-0 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

The Bears (3-1) head into their first season under coach John Fox with some big holes and a long list of injuries, particularly at receiver.

Fales completed 14 of 18 passes for 131 yards with Jay Cutler getting the night off and backup Jimmy Clausen recovering from a concussion.

The defense had seven sacks and three takeaways, helping Chicago prevail on a night when both teams held out almost all their top players.

Terrelle Pryor, trying to secure a roster spot as a receiver for Cleveland (1-3), did little to help his cause.

The former Ohio State quarterback started the second half and got called for an illegal formation -- which was declined -- on the second play from scrimmage. He took a few snaps at quarterback in the wildcat formation, but did not have any passes thrown his way.

Thad Lewis had a difficult night filling in at QB for Josh McCown and the injured Johnny Manziel. He got sacked six times and had an interception returned 25 yards for a touchdown by Chicago's Sherrod Martin in the third quarter.

Fales hit veteran Marc Mariani, also trying to secure a roster spot, with a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter after Cleveland turned the ball over deep in Chicago territory.

In the third, Fales made it 14-0 when he found Ify Umodu in the corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD right as a blitzing Tank Carder took him down.

It was a solid night for the quarterback, particularly with the Bears missing their top four receivers.

Alshon Jeffery sat out all four preseason games because of a strained left calf and his status for the opener against Green Bay is in question. Rookie Kevin White, whom the Bears were counting on to help make up for the loss of Brandon Marshall, could miss the season because of a shin injury.

Chicago was also without Eddie Royal and Marquess Wilson, who were nursing sore hamstrings.

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