Training camp officially closed for the Chicago Bears on August 21st. Moving forward, regular practices will be meant to simulate preparation for actual games. The team plays their preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Then head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff must cut the roster to 53 players. Plenty of names made great use of their work at Halas Hall this summer. Few more so than Justin Fields.
It was a tough situation for the former 1st round pick entering 2022. The coaching staff that helped draft him was fired. That meant he’d have to learn a new offense from scratch, all while a new GM completely overhauled the roster around him. It would’ve been easy to get overwhelmed by such a challenge. To his credit, Fields didn’t blink. He embraced the hard work, putting in countless extra hours on every facet of his game. Results have already been seen over the past two weeks. He seems more comfortable in the offense by the day, not just playing in it but taking control of it.
History shows that when a QB gains comfort and confidence, he often produces more WOW throws. That proved true on Sunday when cameras caught his best pass of training camp in glorious slow motion. Fields ran a bootleg. As he squared his shoulders, he lofted a pass (while fading to his left) over the outstretched fingers of Eddie Jackson for a beautiful touchdown to Darnell Mooney.
Justin Fields proved why he’s so terrifying in those situations.
He had two options before him in that situation. Either he could’ve taken off running, or he had a clean look to throw a pass. The defense was put in a no-win situation. Fields’ 4.3 speed makes him a lethal running threat. Yet they knew if they crashed to stop him from doing that, it would pull the coverage down, allowing somebody to get behind them. In this case, it was Mooney. It is a perfect example of why so many people begged the Bears to get him outside the pocket more often last season.
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There is no telling how well Justin Fields may or may not play this year. The offense still lacks high-end talent. Mooney will be good. David Montgomery should be good, and Cole Kmet looks poised for a big year. The offensive line is another story. This new regime needs time to assemble the necessary supporting cast. Until then, Fields must do the best he can. It looks like he’s headed in the right direction.
His 40 time is still the third fastest in the last 25 years!
Really nice touch on the pass too. I think the line is coming together but may take part of the early season to jell. I think there’s enough weapons, in addition to the fore mentioned, for it to work, provided they stay healthy; Jones, Pringle and St. Brown. Plus key is the pass catching running backs.
“4.3 speed” lol Good lord this guy could be the new Iraqi minister of information
Fields is fast. But he's got 4.4 speed. Unless he gets officially timed at 4.3 it will likely remain 4.4. 🙂