On nine of his 10 sacks this season, the Chicago Bears provided quarterback Justin Fields with at least four seconds to get rid of the ball or run.
Instead, Fields is taking a beating. Chicago is 0-2 with a 12-game losing streak and a trip to play the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City on the docket this Sunday.
Fields pointed to offseason emphasis on becoming a pocket passer as a reason he’s not looking to run. The team’s leading rusher in 2022 with 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns, Fields ran four times for 3 yards and a score at Tampa Bay in the Bears’ 27-17 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 2.
He also described his play as “robotic” and voiced disappointment with his own performance.
“I wasn’t necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic, not playing like myself,” Fields said. “My goal this week is to play football how I know to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts.”
What is causing Fields to overthink?
“You know, could be coaching I think,” Fields said on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, they are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week and then when the game comes, it’s time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more.”
And at the end of the day Wednesday, Fields reconvened media members around his locker following practice after being notified that his earlier press conference comments were being “taken out of context.”
“I’m not blaming anything on the coaches. I’m never going to blame anything on coaches, never going to blame anything on my teammates,” Fields said. “I take every … whatever happens in a game, I will take all the blame. I don’t care if it’s a dropped pass and it should have been a pass. Put it on me.
“I have to play better.”
Bears coach Matt Eberflus last won a game on Oct. 24, 2022 at New England. With a 3-16 record in two seasons, Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy are cramming to get more out of Fields and the rest of the team while they still have time. Eberflus insisted Wednesday he needs Fields to be honest and play free.
“Having him be in the flow, having him be free is what we want,” Eberflus said. “I want him to speak free to us. I want him to be honest.”
The Bears go to the noise box that is Arrowhead Stadium this week without starting left tackle Braxton Jones. He was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
