Getty Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears stands on the field during the team's training camp at Halas Hall.
Louis Riddick is not here for any Justin Fields slander.
The current “Monday Night Football” analyst and offseason GM candidate worked with Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy for three years in Philadelphia, and the two remain good friends. Riddick has been keeping an eye on Chicago’s rookie quarterback as he prepares for his first NFL season, and so far, he says all signs are pointing up.
Riddick, who worked as a scout and was director of pro personnel for both the Eagles and the Washington Football Team, knows talent when he sees it, and he sees it in Fields. He took to Twitter on August 2 to insinuate he has been hearing some very good things about Fields, and he elaborated further during an August 5 appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
Not going to say how crazy good some of things I have been told about Justin Fields the professional have been thus far. Don’t want to hear the “it’s only training camp” brigade puff up their chest and scream at the top of their lungs. BUT…it has been THAT good. Just sayin. 🤷🏾♂️
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Riddick Addresses ‘B.S.’ Surrounding Fields
“We all know that there was a lot of B.S. circling around Justin Fields heading into the draft as far as whatever his level of football intelligence was, whatever his level of commitment was, to the game, was he gonna be the guy who was going to go the extra mile to be great or not? There was a lot of that going on,” Riddick began, referring to pre-draft talk that circulated around the former Ohio State QB.
Riddick then discussed some information he has received about how Fields is currently perceived in Chicago, listing myriad qualities the team is impressed with:
I can just tell you this. I’m pretty well-connected in Chicago. From day one that he has gotten there, they could not be happier and more ecstatic about his level of commitment, his attention to detail, his football IQ, his willingness and desire and how intentional he has been to eliminate all distractions, his leadership, his poise, his swagger, his respect toward Andy Dalton. … He has been a guy who has kind of fallen in line, performed when he has needed to perform, but also shown Andy the level of respect that he believes that Andy deserves. When he gets out on the football field, his continuous progression as far as being able to get these long lengthy play calls communicated in the huddle, his ability to know what not only what he’s doing, but what everyone else is doing, and that improvement every single that he’s making every single day I can just tell you this: It has them fricken’ ecstatic.
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Riddick Says Fields’ Time is Sooner Rather Than Later
Riddick wasn’t done, however. He went on to say that while Chicago’s goal is to keep Fields on the bench this season behind Dalton, that may not be the best idea for the young QB, all things considered.
“It’s just a matter of, when do they pull that show cover off of him and say: ‘Hey, look, it’s time for you to go,'” Riddick said, adding:
“Matt wants to play it safe with him, cause he wants him to be great. And I get that. I’m just saying I think it’s going to be — I think at some point in time, they’re just gonna have to say: ‘Man, just put him in there. Enough of this waiting, just put them in there.’ Cause he is blowing their minds as far as how happy they have been with everything that he is doing.“
With the preseason coming up in just over a week, we’ll get our first glimpse of Fields in action, and the rookie quarterback will have three games to showcase how ready he is — or isn’t — although the early word is certainly as good as can be expected.
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