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Apparently, the pre-draft criticism that popped up surrounding new Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields irked new Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer so much that he sprung into action to defend the young signal-caller.
Meyer, who served as head coach at Ohio State from 2012–2018, didn’t work with Fields directly at OSU, but he knew the young quarterback well enough to know that many of the negative things being said about him were unfounded or simply not true. Rumors about Fields’ work ethic and attitude, along with questions about his inherent love for the game, began to pop up, and in a recent interview, the new Jags head coach revealed that he reached out to the rookie quarterback while also making a few unsolicited calls on his behalf.
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Meyer Texted Fields After Draft
“I talked a lot to Justin,” Meyer told WSYX’s Clay Hall on May 7. “Actually texted him after the draft. My heart was pulling hard for him. Obviously, the fact that I’m a Buckeye, my son-in-law (Ohio State quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis) coached him. (Buckeyes head coach) Ryan Day, who I think the world of, brought him in here. Look at the two years he had.”
Then, Meyer dropped a bit of a bomb, revealing one very surprising detail: The current Jags coach says he picked up the phone and stumped for Fields after hearing some of the negative comments directed his way.
“I started hearing negativity, and I couldn’t even — I even called a few people and said, ‘What are you talking about? That’s not true,'” Meyer said, before also lauding Fields’ leadership when the young quarterback started the petition that led to the Big Ten playing again during the pandemic last fall. “The fact what he did, when the Big Ten, said, ‘Stand down. Season’s over.’ He said, ‘No it’s not.’ And he did it the right way, with class and great leadership. And I’ll always admire him for that.”
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Meyer Scouted Fields Extensively
The Jaguars may have selected Trevor Lawrence first overall in the draft this year, but they certainly took a long, hard look at Fields.
“You have your top two or three that you moved forward with. … We did the best we could,” Meyer told journalist Adam Schefter about the three quarterbacks Jacksonville evaluated heading into the draft this spring. “We split up pro days and sent a guy out to BYU (Zach Wilson), one to Ohio State (Fields) and obviously one to Clemson (Lawrence). Those are the three that we identified, and we did a deep dive on those guys.”
After doing an admitted deep dive into Fields, Meyer came out of it defending the new Bears quarterback in a big way, which says a great deal about what kind of leader the Bears are getting in him.
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