As teammates crammed cardboard packing containers and plastic baggage with belongings within the Halas Hall locker room Monday morning, Justin Fields took stock of his second season, one which ended Sunday as an onlooker for the crew’s tenth consecutive loss.
Fields mentioned his hip, which coach Matt Eberflus mentioned made the quarterback unavailable for the 29-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, was fairly good, calling it 80%.
“I could’ve (played), but I don’t know if I would’ve played my best game,” he mentioned. “Actually it really wasn’t up to me. The trainers, they didn’t want me playing. I couldn’t be out there.”
Fields will take a while to recuperate earlier than diving into offseason coaching, giving him time to mirror on his first season in Luke Getsy’s offense. He ran for 1,143 yards, the second-most by a quarterback within the NFL historical past, and handed for two,242 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
During a four-game stretch starting in Week 7, the Bears averaged 31 factors, and Fields threw eight landing passes with solely two picks and ran for one more 5 scores. That included a regular-season NFL file 178 speeding yards in opposition to the Miami Dolphins and 147 on the bottom versus . the Detroit Lions.
“I feel like my overall understanding of the offense kind of hit midseason,” he mentioned.
“The stuff that I was able to accomplish this year, couldn’t have done it without my teammates, coaches, stuff like that. But I also understand that I need to get better at a lot of stuff. Got to go back to work to training, get better.”
As disappointing because it was that Fields couldn’t run down Lamar Jackson’s speeding file for QBs — he wanted 64 yards to set the mark — there most likely isn’t an individual within the group who desires to see him in placing distance of the achievement sooner or later. Fields missed a sport with a separated left shoulder, then the hip damage and was sidelined for 4 video games by accidents as a rookie. The hits from 55 sacks and 160 rushes took a toll.
“It’s a rushing record and I’m a quarterback,” Fields mentioned. “Of course it would’ve been cool to have, but I’m not really into records like that. If there was one record I’d like to break, it’d be a passing record, so we’ll see if we can get that done in the near future.”
He expressed religion basically supervisor Ryan Poles to enhance the roster after a 3-14 season that landed the Bears the No. 1 decide within the draft to go together with extra salary-cap room the crew may presumably have the ability to whittle by in a single 12 months.
“I know Ryan has a great understanding of what needs to be done around here,” Fields mentioned. “That’s not my job to regulate any of that. Whatever he wants me to do by way of recruiting, I’m certain we’re going to have that dialog in a bit.
“Whatever he’s going to do, I fully trust him. His goal is to make the best team he can for us. I know he’s going to do a great job of that. We’re going to get better and work in the offseason.”
Fields mentioned the four-game streak for the offense sparked optimism. But possibly a very powerful aspect for the 23-year-old is a longtime relationship with Getsy — one they’ll decide as much as refine parts of Fields’ sport with improved expertise round him.
“Luke’s a down-to-earth guy,” he mentioned. “Probably one of the realest coaches I’ve been around. He’ll tell you straight up. He’s genuine, he’s smart, too, so I just love being around and just kind of see his soul and see how pure it is and how pure his heart is.”
The Bears have the buy-in required from Fields, and 2023, with out query, might be a pivotal season for the quarterback’s future. He has time to heal up earlier than attacking the offseason, mentioning he desires to spend extra time with receivers to make sure they’re on the identical web page.
Fields has energized the fan base and sparked optimism for a crew that has so many main questions on each side of the ball. He energized teammates and captured the eye of the remainder of the league means again in Week 1 when the Bears upset the San Francisco 49ers in a rainstorm.
“New regime, new GM, new head coach, new team, I think that was a pretty memorable moment for everybody,” he mentioned. “Especially the setting of that game, felt like we were in a movie. That was a great moment of the year.”
Team-wise, nice moments have been scarce after that. And that’s why Poles, Fields and everybody else concerned has a lot work to perform.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com