Getty Bears QB Justin Fields has been on a tear in recent weeks.
The emergence of Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is without a doubt the most exciting thing to happen to the team in years, and it remains one of the NFL’s best storylines this season.
Fields set a new NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a regular season game with 178 yards against the Miami Dolphins Week 9. The second-year QB also had 123 yards and three scores through the air against Miami, and he followed it up with another record-setting performance Week 10 against the Detroit Lions.
Fields finished with 147 yards rushing and two TDs on the ground in Chicago’s 31-30 loss to the Lions, while also adding 167 yards passing and tossing a pair of touchdowns. He became the first player in NFL history with two passing TDs, two rushing TDs and 100 rushing yards in the same game.
Justin Fields is making history every week.
It’s clear Fields is benefitting from the play calls and scheme drawn up by Bears’ offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and the young quarterback’s trainer, Quincy Avery, recently told Heavy’s NFL insider Matt Lombardo how Getsy and company have helped pave the way for Fields’ recent success.
Quincy Avery on Luke Getsy: He’s Putting Together a Plan That’s Helping Fields Be Successful
Avery, a private quarterback coach who has worked with Fields since the QB’s college days at Ohio State, says he likes the plays Getsy has been dialing up for the 23-year-old signal-caller.
“Luke has a really good understanding of the things that allow Justin to be successful,” Avery told Lombardo. “They’ve been able to put together a game plan to be stress defenses by opening some things up in the passing game. They’ve also done a really good job of allowing Justin to move outside of the pocket on bootlegs, short-rolls and have created situations where he can be a truly dynamic athlete with his legs.”
Dynamic is the perfect descriptor for what Fields has shown over the last month. The Bears QB has 555 rushing yards over his last five games, which is the most by any quarterback during that span and the most by any quarterback in the Super Bowl era.
“You’re seeing the best of him in both aspects, and they’re putting together a plan that’s allowing him to be successful in the future,” Avery noted.
Avery: You’re Seeing An Improvement in the Confidence of Justin Fields
Every week it’s something better
#nfllive
As a rookie in 2021, Fields played in 12 games (10 starts), and he threw for 1,870 yards, seven TDs and 10 interceptions, completing 58.9 percent of his passes. He also had 420 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
Through Week 10 of this season, he has thrown for 1,489 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven picks, and he leads all quarterbacks with 749 rushing yards. His six rushing TDs are second amongst QBs, right behind MVP candidate Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, who has seven.
Avery says that following Fields’ rookie season, the two worked on pocket presence and mechanics, among other things. The improvements are easy to see.
“What we did a lot of, we switched up his stance in the pocket,” Avery told Lombardo. “Seeing his basic balance, his ability to throw on rhythm and timing throws, we’ve seen that get better and better throughout the season. Knowing how athletic he is, how well he does when he’s able to move, we knew he’s talented in that way, but it took him being good at the mundane for those things to flourish.”
Fields also looks more poised in the face of pressure, and that may have something to do with his growing belief in himself.
“What you’re seeing is an improvement in confidence,” Avery added. “And an improvement in confidence often looks like more accuracy, but he’s able to have the belief in himself to throw the ball into tight windows, like we’ve seen him now be successful at the NFL level. He’s making the routine plays look routine, which is necessary to be a good quarterback in the NFL. And, we’re starting to see him do things he was doing in college, and the reason he was drafted in the first round.”