One of the biggest things talked about with Justin Fields coming into the NFL was his intelligence. Everybody who met with him and evaluated him said the same thing. The kid is really smart. He understands football at every level. Better than most young quarterbacks probably do at his age. So one can imagine how he felt going into his first start when head coach Matt Nagy and his staff presented the game plan for the Cleveland Browns.
It turns out Fields didn’t care for it. In fact, he hated it. His personal QB coach Ron Veal hinted at that when speaking on Parkins & Spiegal for 670 The Score. Fields knew going into the game that the plan had some serious flaws. Particularly the protection scheme. The rookie faced a pass rush featuring Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney with no help for the Bears’ tackles. Everybody remembers what followed. Nine sacks, countless more pressures, and one net passing yard for the afternoon.
Fields was humiliated and reportedly not happy afterward.
“I’m kind of glad I didn’t (go) because he took a beating that da. But, yeah, it was kind of crazy and weird at the same time. Why would you leave those two (tackles) with no help?
I know he was a little pissed about it, but I didn’t get an explanation, and I really didn’t ask because I know he was in a situation where he was really pissed off about it.”
It is hard to blame him for feeling that way. While plenty of people were quick to call out Fields for not playing well enough, the reality is he wasn’t given much of a chance. Nagy and his staff hung him out to dry. They went in with a game plan for a veteran like Andy Dalton to execute. Somebody that could get the ball out quickly. They never worked to Fields’ strengths. Even the Browns admitted that they were surprised by the Bears’ offensive approach after the game.
This issue never went away either. Not entirely. Sometimes the Bears would do more to take advantage of what Fields did best. Other times they’d revert to their Dalton-esque game plans. It was obvious Nagy had no idea how to adjust the offense out of what he knew from his days in Kansas City. That is one of the main reasons he ended up fired.
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Justin Fields is already buying into the new staff.
It sounds like he’s already a believer in what new head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy have planned for him. Both have said the same thing from the beginning. They intend to craft an offensive scheme around what the quarterback does best. Then it would be a process of helping to evolve his game from there. Weird concept. It almost sounds like a smart and systematic approach.
One of the offseason objectives laid out to Justin Fields was getting “back to basics.” Veal explained what the focus has been on over the past few months. The goal is to speed up his drops, speed up his overall throw delivery, and work on his timing and anticipation. All are typical problems for a young quarterback.
Fields was no different.
If he can carry such improvements into 2022, the Bears offense stands to benefit in a big way. Having a coaching staff that understands what he is as a player won’t hurt. It’s rather amazing to believe, considering they weren’t the ones who moved heaven and earth to draft him a year ago—another reminder of how insane the NFL can be.
