Within Halas Hall and outside of it, there’s a rush for the Bears to figure out what they have in Justin Fields. Is he a franchise quarterback who can launch the organization out of perpetual mediocrity or is he merely another name to add to the long list of pretenders who’ve waltzed through these parts the last few decades?
The frustrating part is that this isn’t the time to determine that. Not even close.
The Bears won’t know where Fields is heading until the games begin in September, but the first week of training camp was too early to make even an initial assessment with no one in pads and with Fields free to shuffle casually in the pocket waiting for a receiver to get open.
Mitch Trubisky and nearly every other quarterback have looked good in those scenarios, so Fields throwing deep strikes down the sideline to DJ Moore and threading red-zone passes to Cole Kmet are signs of promise, but they aren’t proof.
And they don’t have to be. It’s fun to blast out extraordinary predictions, but the only real conclusion about Fields’ first week of training camp is simply that he stayed on track. That’s it. Maybe it’s a little boring, but it matters to the Bears that he’s right where he should be at this stage.
When asked what he had hoped to see out of Fields, coach Matt Eberflus said, “Just the rhythm and timing of the passing game, having him get connections with the guys.”
The start of training camp isn’t meant to be a wake-up call anymore. It’s much more of an acclimation period. That’s especially important for Fields, who has new targets in Moore and tight end Robert Tonyan and hasn’t played much with Chase Claypool since the Bears traded for him last season.
That all changes this week when the team begins practicing in full pads and shifts its schedule to what Eberflus called “three-day stacks.” The Bears will have another intermediate practice Monday, up the intensity Tuesday and go full-contact in pads Wednesday.
It’s the first big opportunity for Fields to show how much progress he has made since last season. In his second season working under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, he should be an expert on the scheme — no more learning curve.
Equally important, everyone wants to see quick decisions under pressure in the pocket. That’s the key to him or any other quarterback making it. The Bears couldn’t put him in that position much the first week, and there were times during red-zone work Saturday when Fields could’ve stopped to reply to a text before getting the ball out.
It was difficult to gauge Fields’ ability to make sharp decisions in the face of pass rushers his first two seasons because of shaky personnel around him.
Exactly what quick decision did everyone want him to make when he instantly had defenders in his face and his receivers weren’t getting separation?
Fields often opted to run, and that was prudent at times but unsustainable. He set a franchise record for quarterbacks by rushing for 1,143 yards but had the fewest passing yards per game (149.7) and finished 31st in completion percentage (60.4) and 25th in passer rating (85.2).
His tremendous speed and elusiveness certainly will be part of his success, but it can’t be the predominant way he advances. The best mobile quarterbacks — Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts — are excellent passers. Collectively, those three produced 18.3% of their total yardage by running. Fields was at 33.8%.
The Bears need to determine whether that was by necessity or because of Fields’ limitations as a passer, and general manager Ryan Poles believes there is suitable personnel in place this season to get an answer.
The rebuilt offensive line should mean Fields won’t have to constantly scramble for safety. Upgrades at receiver should mean the end of him futilely scanning the field only to see no one open.
When everything around him is good enough, what will we see? There was no way to discern that in the first week, but the first hint of an answer is coming soon.
