Justin Fields needed an extra month but the mission is complete. The Chicago Bears officially names him the starting quarterback. Head coach Matt Nagy had planned for this to happen far down the road. He wanted to follow the Kansas City model, letting Fields learn behind an able veteran in Andy Dalton. Then Dalton injured his knee. This forced the rookie into the lineup and after a rough debut against Cleveland, he showed considerable progress against Detroit.
Enough to where Nagy was left with no choice. After consulting ownership and his staff, he made the move. Fields will be the starter moving forward. The quarterback himself admitted he was a bit surprised. While he’d expected to be the starter eventually this year, even he was convinced Nagy wanted to go back to Dalton. His reaction to the news though might easily be the best part.
The first thing he did was call his parents.
They were of course overjoyed. Seeing their son realize a dream is always great. They wanted to go out for dinner and celebrate the occasion. You know, as normal people do. Fields though isn’t exactly normal. Rather than take a little time to embrace the joy of the moment, the Bears quarterback stayed true to his personality. One built around an insatiable desire to be great.
So rather than go out and celebrate? He opted for something simpler. He’d stay home with his dog Uno and watch game film, preparing for the upcoming battle in Las Vegas against the Raiders.
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This is another reminder of who Fields is. He’s a workaholic. The guy doesn’t feel comfortable unless he’s grinding. Either in the weight room or the film room. His desire to achieve greatness is one of the big reasons the Bears gravitated to him in the first place. To him, this entire development was expected. Now comes the next challenge.
Justin Fields is already resetting the standard for the Bears
This is just in the way he plays. Previous quarterbacks were content to play within the system. Work the short-to-intermediate areas and play the chess match against defenses. Not Fields. He is a guy who lives for the kill shot. If he senses an opportunity to go down the field? He’s going to take and more often than not he’ll hit it. That is how good his arm and accuracy are.
That aggressive, attacking mentality is something the Bears haven’t seen in a long time. Jay Cutler had it but was too often reckless with the football. Justin Fields has that same gifted arm but does a better job with ball placement. As he continues to mature, he should start to really elevate this offense to heights unseen in a long time. Darnell Mooney is already reaping the rewards with 125 yards last week. His best game yet.
Speed bumps are still coming, but they’ll be worth it in the long run.
Especially if Fields continues to put in the time and energy to grasp the mental side of the game. One the mind catches up to his significantly gifted physical attributes? Success should take care of itself. Then it falls to the Bears organization to build a proper roster of talent around him.