For every young quarterback, the challenge becomes getting to the point where the game slows down. Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields thinks he’s already getting there.
“It was actually kind of slow to be honest,” Fields said after Saturday’s preseason opener against the Dolphins, via Kevin Fishbain of TheAthletic.com.
There’s a reason for that. Added Fields, “Me going against [the Chicago defense] every day slows it down for me.”
In his first NFL competition, Fields completed 14 of 20 passes for 142 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. That’s a passer rating of 106.7. He added 33 yards rushing on five carries, and another touchdown.
That said, his touchdown pass happened when a tight end spring wide-ass open; there was no needle-threading on the play.
Those nuances will be lost on Bears fans who haven’t had a true franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman. They already wanted Justin Fields as the starter. Nothing that happened on Saturday will change that, including Fields’s confidence regarding the speed of the game.
He’ll definitely see a faster brand of defense when he’s facing live tackling against a first-string defense. He’s yet to see that combination at this level. If the game seems slow to him when it does, maybe he’ll be the guy for whom Bears fans have been pining.