Most of the buzz during Saturday’s training camp practice came when defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga dropped into coverage and intercepted Justin Fields. It was the wildest play of camp that Tonga returned for a touchdown. It also proved to be the only mistake Fields made during the practice. Otherwise, it sounds like he and the offense had plenty of success in drills, especially when Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet were involved.
Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago witnessed the action. During one 11-on-11 drill, a period that often isn’t kind to the offense, Fields was particularly nasty.
“Fields opened the drill with a pass to David Montgomery for a 2-yard loss, but he followed that with a dart to Darnell Mooney over the middle for a gain of 22. Mooney beat Kyler Gordon on the play. Next, Khalil Herbert picked up 5 on the ground, and then Fields completed a pass to Khari Blasingame for 7 to get down to the 8-yard line.
Two plays later, on second-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Fields got the defensive line to jump and got a free play. He took two quick steps back and threw a jump ball in the end zone for tight end Cole Kmet. Kmet jumped over safety Dane Cruikshank and snagged the ball for a score to win the drill.”
That marks the second time in mere days Fields hoodwinked defenders with a hard count.
He did the same thing to the Seahawks in Seattle, turning a 4th and 2 into a 1st down. It wasn’t over yet, though. The offense had one more surprise in store for the defense with the QB in the middle of it.
“The Bears went into their trick play bag to end the day. With 12 seconds left and the ball at the plus 45, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up the old pitchy-pitchy woo-woo.
Fields threw a quick slant to Mooney, who tossed it back to Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown then turned and tossed it back to Fields. The quarterback caught the ball with a caravan of blockers in front of him, allowing him to gallop to the 34 before stepping out of bounds with 0.4 seconds remaining to bring out the field goal team.”
Justin Fields is expanding his inventory, which is scary.
He was already a quarterback that presented challenges. Not only does he have outstanding speed as a runner, but he also has excellent deep accuracy with the arm strength to strike 50-60 yards down the field. That alone makes Fields dangerous. Now he is beginning to add more subtle things to the arsenal. A varied cadence to keep defensive linemen off balance is borderline unfair. It forces them to watch the football during the snap, reducing their ability to time it.
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Another small piece to the puzzle is his willingness to take checkdowns more often. The throw to Blasingame in that TD drive is a great example. Too often last season Justin Fields had a habit of waiting on plays so he could take a shot down the field. That opened him up to hits and sacks way too often. He passed up a lot of opportunities to dump the ball off to running backs or tight ends for modest gains.
Fields finally accepts that defenses aren’t prone to allowing big plays in the NFL. At least not as often as college. He must be willing to take the smaller victories, keeping a drive moving forward. The deep shots will be there. It is a matter of timing. This should help him better protect his body—another great sign of his maturation.
That is an excellent point about how checkdowns can be positive plays that keep a drive alive and keep the offense moving forward. It also frustrates a defense who has to stay out there longer while your own defense continues resting. And, it keeps your QB from taking unnecessary hits all the time. Big plays are great but an offense that can sustain drives and wear out a defense is probably more effective in the long run.