As Justin Fields gets ready for a very important third year in the NFL, Chicago Bears fans will have their first chance to see the quarterback in action Saturday. Fields will play in the preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans, head coach Matt Eberflus revealed on Wednesday.
Eberflus shared a few specific things he is looking to see out of Fields, via The Athletic, “Can we get in and out of the huddle crisp and execute the play… We’ve got to make sure we look at that. Can he [Fields] make all the protection calls that he needs to make? Can he make the adjustments? Just the operation, that’s what we’re looking for,” he said. Eberflus stated that he’s unsure how much action Fields will see Saturday, saying, “It’s a range. Usually, I’ll tell guys, ‘Hey, it’s seven to 10 plays. He’s going 12 to 15 plays.’ So you can have a little flexibility there based on the way the drive is going for that particular guy. That’s what we’ll do.”
The Bears retooled their offense over the offseason, trading for Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore and using a first-round draft pick on Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright, as they look to jump-start an offense that has finished in the lower third of the league in total yardage in each of Fields’ first two seasons.
The quarterback hardly deserves all of the blame, however. Former Bears head coach Matt Nagy wanted Fields to have more practice before being thrown into the starting role, but an injury to Andy Dalton sent Fields up the depth chart. He started ten games in his rookie season, throwing seven touchdowns and ten interceptions.
Nagy was fired in favor of Eberflus after the season, and Fields took a step in the right direction in the 2022-23 season, throwing for 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while rushing for an additional 1143 yards and eight touchdowns.
