Fields Will Start This Week.....

[soulman]

BEARS TRUST
Justin Fields’ next opportunity is unclear after he starts the Bears’ preseason finale, but the rookie quarterback says he believes in coach Matt Nagy’s development plan

Bears quarterback Justin Fields throws in the third quarter against the Dolphins on Aug. 14 at Soldier Field. John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune

By Colleen Kane Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields will start the third and final preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday in Nashville. After that, Andy Dalton’s performance could largely determine when Bears fans next see Fields in a game.

Before practice at Halas Hall on Tuesday, Bears coach Matt Nagy reiterated his plan to start the veteran Dalton in the season opener Sept. 12 against the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, Calif.

But he strayed from his typical training camp message about playing Fields when the first-round pick is ready, and he acknowledged that Dalton’s play will help determine when Fields makes his debut.

“Big picture, when we talked about this from the very start, we said whoever is going to be best for the Chicago Bears — and that’s going to obviously deal with production and wins, right?” Nagy said. “So when you look at this thing, you want to make sure we all support each other with one common goal to win and offensively to score touchdowns.

“And Andy knows that. Andy is well-aware of that. Andy’s excited for the opportunity to show what he can do with these starters and in this offense. And then every day we have to evaluate, and we have to see where we’re at every single day.”

Dalton played two series in the preseason opener versus the Miami Dolphins and the entire first half against the Buffalo Bills in the second game. Playing mostly without starters such as Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney and David Montgomery, Dalton didn’t have a ton of success moving the offense, but he did throw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Adams. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 164 yards, a touchdown and an interception in those games.

After the Bills game, Nagy said Dalton was “more frustrated than anybody” about not getting into more of a rhythm in his two game appearances, but Nagy also noted the Bears have seen him do it in practices. Now, he said, they need to see what he does in the season, and the evaluation will be on a game-by-game basis.

“It all comes down to the whys,” Nagy said when asked how he will measure Dalton against Fields at that point. “It’s a feel thing.”

Fields played about two quarters in the preseason opener and the second half of the Bills game. Against second- and third-string defenses, he has completed 23 of 39 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Fields will make his first preseason start Saturday and play about two quarters while Dalton rests.

The Bears will determine which starters will play on a case-by-case basis, but Fields will play with some of the top group, likely including the starting offensive line, which is playing together for the first time this week  after left tackle Jason Peters joined and right tackle Germain Ifedi and right guard James Daniels returned from injuries. Fields has gotten a few more reps with starters such as Robinson and Mooney in recent practices.

Nagy has long said his plan for when Fields will start will be based on the rookie’s development. But when asked Tuesday how Bears coaches will evaluate Fields when Dalton is the quarterback playing in games, Nagy said they feel good about where Fields is based on where they thought he would be at the end of training camp.

“Part of the evaluation process is where you say to yourself, ‘Where did you think Justin was going to be through training camp and is he where you thought? Is it a little bit better? Is it a little bit worse?’ “ Nagy said. “I would say for sure that for his level of where a lot of rookies are at this point in time, he passed that test.

“So that’s a good thing. We know that. But now it’s just growth for every one of these quarterbacks, Justin included.”

Nagy said he likes the way Fields prepares, asks questions when watching film or in meetings and continues to build rapport with his teammates.
Nagy saw that last bit of progress Monday after Fields didn’t throw a pass to tight end Jimmy Graham in practice when Graham was matched up with an inside linebacker. In the middle of practice, Graham walked over to Nagy and Fields and said, “Hey, man, when I’m over there, give me that ball. You throw me the ball.”

When Fields crossed paths with Graham later in the day, the rookie told the veteran, “Hey, man, when you’re out there, you’ve got to get open.”

“And Jimmy just looked at him and was like, ‘Did this little young buck just tell me to get open?’ ” Nagy said. “And Justin just walked away and had the biggest grin on his face as he said it. So like that kind of stuff, you build that rapport. But Justin is doing that. And now when he gets with a guy like that, Justin knows, ‘OK, now I just learned I’m going to give him a chance. When he’s covered, he’s uncovered.’ ”

Fields agreed after practice Tuesday that he is where he wants to be in transitioning to the NFL.

He said the biggest difference when he’s practicing rather than playing in games is not having to face the defensive line pressure because linemen don’t hit quarterbacks in practice. Fields will miss those types of tests when he’s relegated to only practices, though there’s a chance the Bears could use Fields on occasion in a special package even when Dalton is starting.

Even as his next opportunity beyond Saturday remains unclear, Fields continues to say he supports the development plan Nagy set out for him.

“If the players of a team don’t buy into what a coach has to say, then that team’s not going to be successful,” Fields said. “So I pretty much have no choice. That’s what is going to come with the most success is when you trust in Coach Nagy and his plan and just (keep) getting better every day. That’s ultimately why I’m trusting him because we all want the same thing.”

We all want to win games. There’s no reason for me not to trust him.”

Edited August 25, 2021 by soulman

[soulman]

15 minutes ago, soulman said:

After the Bills game, Nagy said Dalton was “more frustrated than anybody” about not getting into more of a rhythm in his two game appearances, but Nagy also noted the Bears have seen him do it in practices. Now, he said, they need to see what he does in the season, and the evaluation will be on a game-by-game basis.

“It all comes down to the whys,” Nagy said when asked how he will measure Dalton against Fields at that point. “It’s a feel thing.”

To me THIS is pure Matt Nagy.

Imagine an interview with Nagy where a guy like Brad Biggs points out the flaws in Nagy's thinking and admittedly with Biggs that will take some imagination.

Biggs:  Matt, Andy Dalton did look very good out there today.  Will you consider replacing him with Fields soon?

Nagy:  Yeah uh, we didn't have much rhythm out there I'll give you that, but I just "feel" it's gonna happen anytime now so we uh.....we need to be patient with this. 

We can all SEE what isn't working but somehow Matt Nagy has this FEEL, this super 6th sense that he right and it will all work out given just a little more time.

We're now in season four of him asking for our patience for when reality finally aligns with his "feel".  

Edited August 25, 2021 by soulman

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

To me it just comes back to an unresolvable inequality equation.  Fields is good enough to be #2 QB, ahead of Nick Foles, so somehow he's more ready than a Superbowl MVP vet, but not ready enough to be QB1. OK.

 

My worries about Fields starting are twofold, and have to do with the OL.  Obviously would be bad if he gets hurt and it affects his career. Other concern is that the people in the know represent him as the kind of QB to pass first and run when he has to.  If the OL is giving him .5 seconds to throw, is he going to start to lean on his own rushing ability?  I feel like that sort of QB has a shorter career and lower ceiling. 

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, RunningVaccs said:

My worries about Fields starting are twofold, and have to do with the OL.  Obviously would be bad if he gets hurt and it affects his career. Other concern is that the people in the know represent him as the kind of QB to pass first and run when he has to.  If the OL is giving him .5 seconds to throw, is he going to start to lean on his own rushing ability?  I feel like that sort of QB has a shorter career and lower ceiling. 

I think we all have those worries, but honestly, it’s not at all uncommon for highly touted early first round QBs to come into situations with bad OL. Most teams picking at the top of the draft are bad all over, not just at QB. Trevor Lawrence has that right now. It’s a completely legitimate fear that an underwhelming OL could be bad for Fields. BUT, it’s football. Guys get hurt even behind good lines. It only takes one blown assignment for something like what we saw on Saturday to happen. Good players blow assignments, and every QB gets hit and sacked, but especially one like Fields who’s gonna be on the move even if we had an all pro line. Plus, it’s not like we’re all of a sudden going to be able to drastically change what we have on the OL beyond individual growth. I figure at minimum we can reasonably expect 3 of our current starting 5 (the middle 3) to be here next year too, so how long do we wait on a better situation? Risk of injury is there for every football player. Risk of getting battered is there for every QB.

If we’re assuming Peters-Whitehair-Mustipher-Daniels-Ifedi for week 1, then 4 of the 5 were on our OL last year and didn’t get far less mobile QBs than Fields killed. I’m inclined to think Peters will probably be adequate at LT. 

It’s like you buy a sweet new car, but you don’t want it to get damaged driving on that road that’s under construction where there might be a gravel truck or potholes, so you leave it in your garage and drive your old dinged up commuter vehicle until the end of the summer when construction is done. This isn’t really any different. The team has to understand that they have to protect Fields as much as is reasonable from a play calling and schemed protection standpoint. No question. And I’m sure they do. They’re not dumb. But we also drafted Fields to play knowing that part of the job is him getting hit, and maybe hit hard. We can’t let the fear of hurting our new QB prevent us from benefitting from our new QB. 

[beardown3231]

25 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

I think we all have those worries, but honestly, it’s not at all uncommon for highly touted early first round QBs to come into situations with bad OL. Most teams picking at the top of the draft are bad all over, not just at QB. Trevor Lawrence has that right now. It’s a completely legitimate fear that an underwhelming OL could be bad for Fields. BUT, it’s football. Guys get hurt even behind good lines. It only takes one blown assignment for something like what we saw on Saturday to happen. Good players blow assignments, and every QB gets hit and sacked, but especially one like Fields who’s gonna be on the move even if we had an all pro line. Plus, it’s not like we’re all of a sudden going to be able to drastically change what we have on the OL beyond individual growth. I figure at minimum we can reasonably expect 3 of our current starting 5 (the middle 3) to be here next year too, so how long do we wait on a better situation? Risk of injury is there for every football player. Risk of getting battered is there for every QB.

If we’re assuming Peters-Whitehair-Mustipher-Daniels-Ifedi for week 1, then 4 of the 5 were on our OL last year and didn’t get far less mobile QBs than Fields killed. I’m inclined to think Peters will probably be adequate at LT. 

It’s like you buy a sweet new car, but you don’t want it to get damaged driving on that road that’s under construction where there might be a gravel truck or potholes, so you leave it in your garage and drive your old dinged up commuter vehicle until the end of the summer when construction is done. This isn’t really any different. The team has to understand that they have to protect Fields as much as is reasonable from a play calling and schemed protection standpoint. No question. And I’m sure they do. They’re not dumb. But we also drafted Fields to play knowing that part of the job is him getting hit, and maybe hit hard. We can’t let the fear of hurting our new QB prevent us from benefitting from our new QB. 

I mean, s***. It can't really be said much better, @AZBearsFan. 

Brandt did a good job as well: 

 

[soulman]

6 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

We can’t let the fear of hurting our new QB prevent us from benefitting from our new QB. 

Amen.  Fields is 6'3", 227lbs and he's chiseled like a rock.  He taken some pretty good blows in his college career, shook them off, and come right back to lead a scoring drive like he against Clemson.  He's not exactly a fragile guy.  He's built more like a big SS or Cover LB.