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Justin Fields is in his second season with the Chicago Bears, but so far, the team has yet to learn much more about what the young quarterback is capable of.
Through two games, Fields remains the lone starter in the league who has thrown fewer than 20 times during a game, which he did both Weeks 1 and 2. The 23-year-old quarterback completed eight out of 15 attempts for 121 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the team’s 19-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers and followed it up by going 7-11 for 70 yards, a pick and a rushing score in Chicago’s 27-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Thus, Fields’ stat line through two weeks looks like he had one incredibly average game: 15 of 28 for 191 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions (69.2 rating).
When asked if throwing the ball so little might be getting in the way of his development, the young QB gave an unflinchingly honest response.
Fields Admits His Development Might Be Affected
Heading into Chicago’s Week 3 matchup against the Houston Texans, Fields met with the media on September 21 and was asked his thoughts on how little he has thrown the ball, among other things.
The 23-year-old signal-caller says he hasn’t asked offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to incorporate more pass plays into the offensive game plan, and noted he did have a say in what plays the offense ran.
“No, I haven’t,” Fields said about whether he has asked Getsy to throw more. “I mean, I have a say into what pass plays I like, what concepts I like. But in terms of when we’re going to call a play, how many passes, how many runs we’re going to call, that’s Luke’s job and everybody in the building knows that Luke knows what he’s doing. We put full trust in him knowing that he’s gonna put us in the best position to win.”
Fields was also blunt when asked if throwing so little might be hurting his development as a young quarterback.
“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “But my number one priority in my job is to run the plays like I’m taught to and to execute them at the best of my ability, and to ultimately win games. So, if our offensive coordinator thinks the plays he’s giving me are going to help us win games, that’s all I care about.”
Fields: We’re Going to Trust Our Coaches
While Fields hasn’t put up the kind of numbers he and the team had likely hoped for, he has displayed a mental and physical toughness that’s rare in young QBs. His attitude is also exactly what you want in a leader: He’s a team-first guy.
“If I threw zero passes and we won the game, I wouldn’t have any problems,” Fields added. “Our goal as a team — as an offense — is to win games. Nobody’s looking at how many passes did I have, how many yards did I have. We’re just all trying to win the game.”
If he can learn to settle down and navigate in the pocket better and improve his pre-snap reads, his statistical game will likely catch up soon. Stats aside, though, Fields says he’s putting his trust in Getsy and company.
“At the end of the day, these guys have been in the league for I don’t know how long,” Fields pointed out. “They know what they’re doing. None of it’s going to work if I don’t trust it, if the players, ourselves, if we don’t trust the coaches. We trust the coaches.”
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