Little time was wasted at Tuesday’s press conference before Bears general manager Ryan Poles was asked about the team’s plan for quarterback Justin Fields next year.
Fields’s future status on the team came into question when the Bears received the No. 1 overall pick for this year’s NFL draft. However, according to a report on Monday from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears are “leaning toward” moving the pick, most likely in order to keep Fields as the starting quarterback.
Poles reiterated this sentiment on Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine, noting that Fields starting next season is “the plan right now.”
However, this isn’t stopping Poles from scouting some of this year’s top quarterback prospects at the combine.
“We’re going to do our homework on this class,” Poles said.
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But, in order for them to change their minds about Fields, they would need to be “blown away” by one of this year’s prospects, the Chicago GM stated.
While the Bears had an underwhelming season, finishing 3–14, Fields had quite the year as he became just the third quarterback in history to rush for over 1,000 yards. He finished with 1,143, just 64 yards short of Lamar Jackson’s single-season record at the position.
In Fields’s two seasons as the Bears’ starting quarterback, he’s posted a 5–20 record in 25 starts. He’s thrown for 4,112 yards, 24 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while completing 59.7% of his passes. He’s also rushed for 1,563 yards and 10 touchdowns on 232 attempts.
