Justin Fields’ debut at Soldier Field in the preseason opener against Miami was probably the most highly-anticipated for any single player in modern Chicago Bears history. That may sound like a joke but it’s not. In total, over 43,000 fans were in attendance. That is nuts for a preseason game. This goes to show how starved this city is for a quarterback. By the time the dust settled on the afternoon? People probably left pretty happy.
It wasn’t the greatest start. Fields had some early hiccups including one pass that was nearly intercepted and then a fumble while scrambling that he managed to recover. It wasn’t all on him. His receivers had a hard time getting open towards the end of the first half. However, he still managed to engineer a quick drive in the final 45 seconds to secure a 53-yard field goal to get the Bears on the board.
Then things got a lot more fun.
Fields seized control of the game in the 3rd quarter. It started with an 82-yard drive in eight plays capped with a nice 25-yard strike to Rodney Adams followed by an 8-yard scrambled for a touchdown. Then on the next series, he hit the Dolphins with a scramble for 21 yards before twisting them up with a beautifully engineered throwback pass to Jesse James on a rollout for a 30-yard TD.
Just like that, the Bears had scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead. They would hang on to win 20-13. A strong debut for the rookie. After the game, he stepped up for questions from the media. At one point he was asked if the speed of the NFL level affected him at all during the action. His answer was certainly eye-opening.
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Justin Fields is more battle-tested than people think
Remember this is a guy who played at one of the top programs in college football. He went against some really good defenses in the Big Ten across two years and reached the College Football Playoffs twice. He played Alabama in the national championship game just a few months ago. So yeah. It should be easy to understand why he might not be intimidated by a preseason game as other young quarterbacks would.
If nothing else, this speaks to his surprising composure and points. Two things that stood out a lot in college. No matter the situation, Justin Fields always seemed to never let his pulse rise above a certain beat. That was on display in this game. Miami pressured him a number of times. It didn’t matter. He avoided the rushes, got out in space, and made some plays. They never sacked him.
Every time he took off to run? Nobody could catch him.
Fields isn’t there yet. He has plenty still to work on. As do all rookie quarterbacks. Yet there are already signs that he has the makings of a good NFL passer. Somebody who can carry a franchise on his back. Can the Bears build something around him? Time will tell. This is the kind of start they wanted.
