Justin Fields, Struggling To Complete Passes, Seemingly Throws Bears Coaches Under the Bus
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields gets paid to throw the football but he hasn't been doing that to any great standard in the NFL, including the first two games this season.
But throwing his coaches under the bus?
Maybe different altogether.
Because on Wednesday, it initially sounded like the quarterback did that quite effectively in discussing how he played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and how he wants to play moving forward.
Justin Fields #1 of the Chicago Bears reacts after fumbling the ball against the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Soldier Field on September 10, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Justin Fields Felt 'Robotic'
"Things I didn't like, I felt I wasn't necessarily playing my game," Fields said. "I felt I was robotic and not playing like myself. My goal this week is just to say, 'Eff it' and just go out there and play football how I know how to play football.
"...That includes thinking less and just literally going out there and playing off of instincts rather than so much, say, info in my head. Get that out of my head and literally going out there and playing football."
Fields was asked what was causing him to, in his opinion, think so much?
"Um, you know, could be coaching. I think," he responded.
Oh boy.
Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 09, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Bears' Fields Wants To Play Free
"But, um, at the end of the day, they're doing their job when they're giving me what to look at," Fields continued. "... But at the end of the day, I can't be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week and when the game comes, it's time to play free at that point. So, um, just thinking less and playing more."
This sounds bad. It suggests the quarterback is either being swamped with information that is too much to digest. Or perhaps he's simply unable to take coaching points and process them and balance them when he's on the field.
It sounded so bad that when the Bears locker room opened to reporters after practice, Fields addressed them again. This time he made the point he was in no way blaming coaches, even though that's exactly what it sounds like.
"I can play better," Fields insisted, putting the focus on himself.
Whatever Fields is doing and whatever he thinks, it's not clicking.
As a result, the Bears get the kind of outing Fields had Sunday. He completed 16 of 29 passes (55.2 percent completion) for 211 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception, and two fumbles. One of those fumbles came on a sack in which Fields was clearly holding the ball too long.
Bears Not Getting Good Play From Fields
And there was another play where Fields scanned the field and apparently saw no receiver open -- even though a receiver was running uncovered down the seam.
"I just think when you're fed a lot of information at a point in time, and you're trying to think about that info like when you're playing, it's like it doesn't let you play like yourself," Fields said. "You're trying to process so much information to where it's like, if I just would've simplified it in my mind I would have did this.
"I saw a few plays on Sunday to where if I was playing like my old self, like, we would have had a positive play, like, there were would have been a few more third down conversions."
Fields said he discussed the topic with head coach Matt Eberflus and second-year offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
"It was good, the conversation was good," Fields said. "But I'm just going to keep that private, to be honest with you."
Head coach Matt Eberflus of the Chicago Bears talks with general manager Ryan Poles prior to the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on January 08, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Bears Coaches Want 'Partnership' To Work
Fields did add that Getsy was "receptive" to his complaints. So he also threw the Bears offensive coordinator something of a lifeline.
"I think Luke knows I'm my own person," Fields said. "I think it's more of me trying to just make sure I don't think about it as much as, like, 'we want to do it a specific way.' In the big scheme of things I have to continue to be me play the game how I play it.
"And I think sometimes when I'm coached, I think that, you know, I've had times where, like, 'we do it like this, I have to change it.' It's probably more a me-thing than a coach-thing."
Eberflus, obviously trying to save the team, the season, and everyone's job, called the understanding between the coaches and Fields "a partnership."
"He respects that partnership and so do we," Eberflus said. "So we want him to play free. And I think it's very important as we work through this, making sure he does play free, that we coach him that way."
We'll see how Fields responds in the next game. Hey, maybe he needs the yoke removed so he can stop feeling over-coached and be dynamic.
Or maybe Justin Fields, given free rein, is going to run into the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and look neither dynamic nor sufficiently coached.