This is our online morning newsletter, Bear Necessities. Subscribe to get the latest Bears news delivered to your mailbox every day.
When quarterback Justin Fields made his return to the starting lineup Sunday night after recovering from cracked ribs, the last thing the Bears wanted was for their rookie to take big shots against the Packers.
Fields, who said he felt pain in his ribs every time he threw one of his 33 pass attempts, was under duress for most of the night.
Fields was pressured on 54.3% of his drop backs (19 of 35), sacked twice and was hit nine times. Not what you want to see from your offensive line in protecting your future at QB.
NFL analyst Brian Baldinger broke down some film from Sunday night’s game, with an emphasis on the poor pass protection afforded by the Bears offensive line. And he wasn’t happy.
.@bears @justnfields hit the deck the first 4 times he dropped back to throw. #daBears gotta do better They just gotta do better #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/FOVFC5DrYD
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 13, 2021
And that was just in regards to Fields’ first four dropbacks.
It didn’t help when veteran Jason Peters went down with an ankle injury shortly after, forcing rookie Teven Jenkins to make his NFL debut. While Jenkins had a decent start, things soon got ugly for the rookie, who struggled in pass protection and committed some penalties.
But that’s going to happen with rookies, and it’ll be more interesting to see how Jenkins responds against the Vikings this week, assuming Peters can’t go with that ankle injury.
Heading into the final four games of the season, the important thing is these young players, like Fields and Jenkins, getting those valuable reps. Well, that and staying healthy.