Chicago Bears franchise quarterback Justin Fields says that his playing during the Bears 27-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday was “robotic” and stated that he did not heel that he was “playing like myself” during a media session with NFL journalists on Wednesday.
Fields was 16-of-29 for 211 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions during the loss and added 3 yards, including a one-yard touchdown run, on the ground.
Fields said that the reason for this was coaching, and how he was coached to play.
“You know, could be coaching, I think,” Fields said, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “At the end of the day, they are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can’t be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week, and then when the game comes, it’s time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more.”
Fields now looks to turn the page for the better as the Bears take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
“My goal this week is just to say F it and go out there and play football how I know to play football,” Fields said. “That includes thinking less and just going out there and playing off of instincts rather than so much, say, info in my head, data in my head. Just literally going out there and playing football. Going back to it’s a game and that’s it.
“That’s when I play my best, when I’m just out there playing free and being myself, so I’m going to, say, kind of bump all the what I should, this and that, pocket stuff. I’m going to go out there and be me.”
Fields said that coaches emphasized him staying in the pocket throughout the offseason and stated that he does need to rely on his internal clock when truing to make plays when situation call for it.
“I don’t think it’s too many coaching voices, but I just think when you’re fed a lot of information at a point in time and you’re trying to think about that info when you’re playing, it doesn’t let you play like yourself,” Fields said. “You’re trying to process so much information to where it’s like, if I just simplify it in my mind, I would have did this. I saw a few plays on Sunday, if I was playing like my old self, we would have had a positive play. There would have been more third-down [conversions]. I think that’s just the biggest thing for me is playing the game how I know how to play and how I’ve been playing my whole life. That’s what I got to get back to doing.”
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus responded to Fields comments adding that he did not feel the Bears were overcoaching Fields and that “having him being free is what we want.”
“He respects that partnership, and so do we,” Eberflus said. “We want him to play free. I think it’s very important that, as we work through this, making sure that he does play free, that we coach him that way.
“A lot of times he wants to be perfect. He wants to do it the right way. And there’s a balance there, though, right? There’s a balance between, ‘Hey, going through my progressions,’ but also having the ability to say, ‘Hey, I feel these things happening. Now I’m going to play instinctual.’ And that could be just sliding up in the pocket in the B-gap and delivering the ball or taking off and running. I think that’s where that is.”
While it may seem that Fields’ comments could be a sign of a growing tension between the signal caller and his head coach, which sports social media has debated, Fields said that him voicing any concerns is a necessary part of the process.
“Nobody is going to take anything personal,” Fields said. “The coaches say we need to play better, I need to play better, I’m not taking that personal because I think everybody in here knows that I need to play better, including myself. They’re not going to take it personal if us as players go to them and say, ‘I didn’t like this call.’ They need to be better. We’re all grown men in the building, and we all can take it. It’s about working with each other, getting each other better, holding each other accountable and working towards the same goal. In terms of that fact, yeah, I think everybody can do better around here, including myself.”
Field would add that his quotes were taken out of context.
“… it’s like you all are trying to split us up. I’m not blaming anything on the coaches; I’m never going to blame anything on the coaches; I’m never going to blame anything on my teammates. Whatever happens in a game, I will take all the blame. I don’t care. If it’s a dropped pass, it should have been a pass, put it on me.
“Whenever you hear anything come out of my mouth to where I would blame it on somebody else in this organization, my teammates, never will you hear that. I just want to clear that up. Just know I need to play better. That’s it. Point-blank. That’s what it should have been in the first place.”
