Justin Fields isn’t somebody that will throw burns around at other people. He isn’t that type of person and isn’t that type of leader. That being said, he is honest when it comes to reality. It was evident even last year the young quarterback was frustrated with the Chicago Bears offense. They weren’t scoring enough points, and he was taking a beating almost every week: many blamed head coach Matt Nagy and his staff for their baffling schematic choices around the young quarterback.
It was evident they weren’t working nearly enough to Fields’ strengths. Too often, they ran plays that seemed better suited to Andy Dalton or Nick Foles, quarterbacks that are used to surveying and getting the ball out fast. Fields wasn’t. Yet he was still put behind frequent five-man protections and asked to read everything. Nobody should’ve been surprised he struggled. That led to multiple injuries and Nagy’s eventual firing.
Now Matt Eberflus and his staff are in to clean up the mess.
Fields spoke to the media for the first time since January on Tuesday. He’s excited about engrossing himself in Luke Getsy’s new offense. Changes have already been made to his footwork, and he is adjusting the timing and rhythm of the system. Then one question came up. Did he think he was put in the best position to succeed? He repeated the question to himself for a moment and offered a reply that, while short, spoke volumes.
Fields didn’t sugarcoat it. While he did single out Nagy or anything like that, he didn’t care for whatever the coaches were trying to do last season. As a rookie, he wasn’t really in a position to argue at the time. He just had to make the best of it by trusting things would work out. They never did.
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Justin Fields now has coaches around him less married to schemes.
Both Eberflus and Getsy have said that there is no set scheme they’re going to install. This new offensive system will be built from the ground up with one overarching goal in mind. Maximize the talents of their quarterback. They want to figure out what Fields does best and do that. Accentuate the positives and hide the negatives. It is Coaching 101 for any sport. Yet Nagy never quite seemed to grasp it.
There will be one part of the offense that is set in stone. Getsy aims to bring elements of the Shanahan system to Chicago. The same one made famous by Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay out west. When run correctly, that system can make even average quarterbacks successful. It got Jared Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo to the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons. Imagine what it can do for someone far more talented like Justin Fields.
This again speaks to Eberflus.
He came in with a plan and is executing it step by step. As long as Fields takes to the instructions and continues honing his craft, he should see a considerable improvement in 2022, especially if the Bears can find him better weapons and protection.
