Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has announced that starting QB Justin Fields will be back for the Bears week 11 matchup with the Detroit Lions.
“We’re excited to see where he goes and again, this will be a big evaluation today, about going full speed, doing full speed reps and all that,” Eberflus said.
FIELDS NEEDS TO SHOW BEARS HE IS A FRANCHISE QB
After excuses, and injuries, it’s time for Justin Fields to prove to the Bears that he is the franchise QB. Chicago has two very high-rated draft picks coming up in 2024, owning their own and Carolina’s first round selections, so moving on at QB would be very easy for them this offseason and that was clearly evident in Eberflus’s words.
“I think seven weeks is enough time to show consistency and being the high performer that we expect him to be,” Eberflus said. “I know he’s had some good performances along this year, certainly the last few have been solid. We expect consistency out of all our positions.”
Meanwhile, Fields isn’t looking to prove anything. “I’m not here to prove anything to anybody,” Fields said. “I’m playing for my teammates, I’m playing for the coaches, and that’s it. Everything else will take care of itself. So I’m not necessarily trying to prove anything to anybody. Just go out there with my brothers. And go out there and perform.”
That may not be wise for the once-again Bears starter as his replacement while he was injured, Tyson Bagent, has won 2 games this season, one more than Fields has managed. Bagent doesn’t really over the upside that Fields promises, but the Bears have a much stronger floor when Bagent is out there it seems.
“We never put ceiling on players, but we certainly like where his floor is because the sky’s the limit for everybody,” Eberflus said of Bagent. “You never want to do that. Guys can grow into certain spaces that they didn’t even think they could. So, you have to give them that opportunity, but we certainly like where he is right now.”
Fields however, doesn’t seem fussed either way. “Yeah, I mean, I think really just looking at all quarterbacks,” Fields said. “Tyson, quarterbacks around the league, quarterbacks in college, we all play the game differently, so things that Tyson did well, I’m definitely going to try to emulate that of course in my game. But at the end of the day, we’re different quarterbacks, we don’t do the same things. But, of course, there’s bits and pieces that we do differently that he did well on the field and of course I’m going to try to add that my game for sure.”
The Bears will be hoping Fields can take on some of those good qualities Bagent has, but infuse them with Fields explosive plays.
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