No matter what he might say, Justin Fields probably has some hard feelings about the Chicago Bears. He devoted a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to the organization during his three years as their starting quarterback. In that time, he took a hellacious beating, had to endure a total regime change, a tearing down of the roster, and ridicule from every outlet for his lack of progress as a passer. Then, when it appears the franchise is finally ascending, they trade him away for another quarterback. There is no way Fields wouldn’t be upset about that.
To his credit, he’s never come out directly and stated he hates the Bears. He’s been respectful whenever asked, and they have as well. It has been treated as a mutual parting of ways. Chicago got to start over at quarterback. Fields got to join an organization with a more recent reputation for winning. Still, the QB couldn’t resist an indirect dig at his former team when he made a comment about the Steelers’ locker room. No doubt he sees it as a massive upgrade compared to what he left behind.
“Me being in two different places now, I realize you don’t get this culture everywhere.”
Justin Fields’ perspective isn’t surprising.
When he arrived, Chicago wasn’t exactly the model of stability. Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace were already on the hot seat. How they handled his transition to the NFL was a complete crapshow with Andy Dalton and Nick Foles. Both were then fired after the season, paving the way for a new regime that had zero say in drafting him. Poles decided the roster was old and poorly built, so he blew it up. All the while, they put Fields in the hands of a totally untested offensive coordinator in Luke Getsy.
That said, nobody can say the Bears didn’t try to help him. They invested in his protection last year and got him a legitimate star wide receiver in D.J. Moore. He had ample opportunities to show progress as a passer. Sadly, he didn’t take advantage of enough of them. Too many 4th quarter no-shows. Too many times, he looked overwhelmed by better defenses. Reports indicate from Pittsburgh, that those same problems are popping up in practice. Fields can blame Chicago if he wants, but the fact is he had his chances.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
@barrie Actually the evidence is in his miserable record. The evidence is also in his stats – complete with him being the NFL’s WORST QB in the 4th Q for the last 3 YEARS. Actually, the evidence is also in his recent “performance” in Pittsburgh. Now he’s got the nickname one-read and run LOL! If you ACTUALLY paid attention to how really bad this 2nd stringer (who is in his 4th year) is, and disregarded your man-crush, you’d understand the evidence. His stats were worse than Trubisky’s. Enough about the loser – he’s a backup on another team. Let him… Read more »
@exsouthsider Your evidence is that some people on the internet still call Fields names. Awesome. About the level of discourse I’d expect.
And let me also cop to my own errors in judgment and say this: I was wrong before. Caleb Williams isn’t the villain here, and he isn’t a problem. He’ll be QB1 and I anticipate that he will put up the passing statistics that you all seem to want to see from QB1 and ultimately do ok in that role. I don’t think that he’ll be as talented as Fields is, but I think Fields is the most talented QB in the league, right now, so that’s an unfair bar to set. I still wish Poles had moved pick 1.01… Read more »
@Tred If Luke Getsy knocked on my door and personally apologized for squandering Fields’ historic talent and gaslighting the fan base into turning on the QB instead of acknowledging the real root of the problems, I may consider forgiving him for his betrayal.
Short of that, he is dead to me. Luke Getsy was the worst thing to happen to Chicago sports in the city’s long, storied history. And yes, I watched every goddamn second of the Trestman era.
@barry_mccockiner – all good and valid points. Meanwhile, the usual Fields haters are still ranting like lunatics every time another tidbit of Fields news pops up. But they also ignore – or try to offer the most convoluted excuses, or simply claim it doesn’t matter to cover up an inconvenient truth. That is – Why didn’t Poles and Eberflus, et al. trade Fields after their first season in Chicago if they recognized that Fields SUCKED? After all, Fields was rated a top 100 player after the 2022 season, and could have been moved for at least somewhat of a haul.… Read more »