The debates will rage for a long time. Many will say Justin Fields was ruined by the Chicago Bears. Others will say the young quarterback has nobody to blame but himself. Whatever side of that fence you fall, one thing was abundantly clear during the quarterback’s post-game press conference on Sunday. He has mentally shut down. Fields didn’t sound like somebody with a clear idea of what he must do to get better. Instead, he sounded like a person almost resigned to his inevitable fate.
That is the only way to explain a comment like this.
“I’m looking at it like the big picture, life in general to be honest with you. I think this past week has had me kind of look at it like, what are the important things in life? Because you know when things are going good, you feel me, not say whatever. I think these past couple of weeks have made me appreciate the little things in life, like being able to play this game. Every opportunity I get to go out there and play, I’m going to have fun. I’m going to play my hardest and, you know, just thank god for giving me the ability to play. So, no matter what the scoreboard is, I’m going to keep doing the same mindset and just pushing to keep moving forward.”
That doesn’t sound like a defiant leader who is confident things will get better. Fields is grasping at straws. This past week has been pure hell for him. It started with his comments about coaching being a potential reason for his robotic play. That caused an inevitable media firestorm. Though he tried to walk back the comments, it was too late. While coaches insisted there was no problem, it created one more problem for a struggling team to deal with. Predictably, nothing went right as the Kansas City Chiefs handily dismissed them 41-10.
Fields finished with 99 yards passing, the fourth time in his career he’s failed to crack 100.
Justin Fields may not finish the season at this rate.
He hasn’t won a game since the big victory in New England last October. Even the only thing he was electric at, running the ball, has vanished. There is no confidence in his play, which is hard to believe. The offense surrounding him is much more talented than it was last season. Many believe the coaching has ruined him. While it’s true Matt Eberflus and his staff haven’t done stellar work, Fields can’t escape blame. Even from the moment he arrived in Chicago, he struggled as a passer. It’s Year 3, and he still hasn’t cracked 300 yards passing in a game.
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It might be time to admit that Justin Fields isn’t the guy everybody hoped he’d be. Maybe the fact he fell in the 2021 draft wasn’t a mistake by other teams but a red flag that they saw troubling issues with his game. After all, those NFL executives and scouts have access to way better resources than fans and draft experts. Fields was always a Hail Mary by Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy to save their jobs. The fact they were allowed to make that decision remains another in a long line of catastrophic mistakes by George McCaskey.
Now he gets to watch it all blow up in his face yet again.
