Everybody saw the problem develop over time. At first, head coach Matt Nagy made it seem like he was more than content to ride or die with Mitch Trubisky. However, towards the end of 2019, it was becoming apparent his stance on the quarterback wasn’t as solid as he’d made it out to be. Now with Matt Eberflus coming in to take over the development of Justin Fields, fears are it could be the same story.
Remember he didn’t draft the young QB from Ohio State. He has no skin in the game like Nagy did when the Bears moved up to draft Fields. Often in these situations, it can be easy for a coach to view the player with skepticism. As not one of his types. The new Bears head coach was quick to put those concerns to bed. During an interview with Peter King of NBC Sports, he was asked whether he felt Fields could handle all the responsibilities of being an NFL quarterback.
“There’s no doubt. There’s no doubt. I feel very confident in his confidence and his ability to lead the football team. But I also feel that, when I was there, I could feel the presence of him and his ability to grow. Because people say this and I’ve known it to be true with these NFL guys is that I’ve seen the biggest growth between rookie year and second year. You look at all the quarterbacks that have come up lately, the first or second year, it’s been a big growth spurt for those guys and we’re expecting that this year.”
Eberflus was crafty with those words.
Not only did he express total confidence in Justin Fields, but he also threw in an extra challenge on top of it. He made it clear to everybody, including the quarterback himself, that expectations will be high for 2022. Yes, a lot of things weren’t handled properly last season. The coaching was questionable and Fields didn’t get much help from his supporting cast. That will have to change. Even so, it can’t be used as an excuse. He needs to start showing everybody why he was a 1st round pick.
Players are expected to take a big step forward in their second season. Almost every quarterback who proved any good in NFL history was able to do this. A difficult rookie year can be passed off as understandable. More struggles in Year 2 won’t elicit the same response from fans or the media. They’ll start to wonder if Fields, for all his obvious talent, may not have the necessary traits to handle the pro level.
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This is a big year for him. Eberflus know it. That is why he’s putting forward a plan to gear every facet of the new offense to the 23-year old’s strengths.
