There’s no denying Bears rookie Justin Fields has all of the talent and potential to develop into a great quarterback in the NFL. But his rookie season is about adjusting to the NFL game and those typical rookie growing pains that will help him in the long run.
If you were to simply look at the box scores from Fields’ first four starts, it wouldn’t look inspiring. But that’s been the Bears offense as a whole. But watching the games, you see that Fields is making progress each week — and learning from his mistakes.
Through four NFL starts, Fields is learning the differences between the college game and the NFL. Back at Ohio State, Fields knew his team was the best in the Big Ten — by a long shot. But in the NFL, there’s not as much disparity.
“It’s a different ballgame now,” Fields told reporters Wednesday. “We’re not in the Big Ten where Ohio State is most likely more talented than most of the teams we play. It’s the NFL now.
“You just have to bounce back. You get knocked down, you just got to keep coming back. As long as we do that, we’ll be good. We’ll continue to grow.”
Something Fields has learned is the importance of orchestrating consistent drives rather than a few splash plays when it comes to scoring points.
“That’s one big difference I’m starting to find out,” Fields said, “is you’ve got to put drives together rather than just have a good play here, have a good play there. If you have a bad play in college, it’s easy to get that yardage you lost the next play, where in the NFL, it’s not as easy.”
The Bears offense ranks among the worst in the NFL, which has been the case for the last three years. Still, there have been signs of progress, including those two scoring drives against the Packers. Fields is hoping that translates to winning.
“We are growing every day,” he said. “The part that sucks is not being able to win games. As long as we are growing and getting better every day, I think that is the main focus right now. Eventually our growth will pay off at the end. We just hope to win as we continue to grow rather than continue to grow and not win.”
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