7 Things to Know After Week 9: Justin Fields Is the Bears’ Silver Lining

Plus, the uncertainty around Aaron Rodgers’s return, Jeffery Simmons emerges, Mike Mayock takes control in Vegas, Saints QB questions and more.

Week 9 brought plenty of unexpected twists that caused us to look at some teams, and a few players, in a different light. We’ll have more midseason assessments at The MMQB later this week, but first, here are seven things to know after Week 9.

1. Justin Fields may still be the silver lining of the Bears' season. The rookie quarterback was certainly the silver lining in Monday night’s 29–27 loss to the Steelers. It was an ugly performance for the Bears through three quarters, thwarted by a stagnant offense and what would be an eventual tally of 12 penalties (though some, like the illegal low-block call on guard James Daniels that erased a third-quarter touchdown, were certainly questionable). But Fields rallied the Bears with two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, including the 16-yard TD pass to Darnell Mooney that briefly gave Chicago the lead with less than two minutes left. In trying to claw his team out of a 20–6 deficit, Fields delivered some of the electric plays that made him a first-round pick. To set up the first TD in the fourth quarter, he fired a 28-yard strike to Jimmy Graham that was expertly placed out in front of the tight end and before Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick could make a play on the ball. Fields then got the ball back again with 2:52 to play, trailing by six. On a third-and-2, he delivered a 39-yard pass to Allen Robinson that reminded us what Fields can look like when he has enough time to throw. The next play was the go-ahead TD to Mooney, on which Fields escaped a collapsing pocket to keep the play alive and lofted the throw while on the run, leading Mooney away from his defender for the score. (The only criticism was that they scored too quickly, leaving the Steelers enough time to maneuver for the game-winning field goal.) “You can either be the guy who always gets put in that position and doesn't show up, or you can be that guy who shows up in the big moments,” Fields told reporters after the game. The Bears lost this game but the more important outcome for the future of the franchise is that Fields showed he can be that guy who shows up in big NFL moments, too.

2. There are 20 teams within one game of .500 or better. Every season, no matter how much we tell ourselves not to make proclamations about teams in the first month of the season, we do it, anyway. Maybe the chaos of the 2021 season so far is enough for us to correct our ways. The Bills looked like they would run away with the AFC East but, after a loss to the Jaguars, are now just a half game ahead of the Patriots, who opened the season 1–3. All four teams in the AFC West have five wins. The Falcons, who didn’t win until Week 3, are currently in position to be the NFC’s No. 7 seed (which of course still means absolutely nothing). And after a weekend in which the Derrick Henry–less Titans toppled the Rams and the Von Miller–less Broncos shut down the Cowboys, we are less sure about who the best teams in the NFL are.

3. Aaron Rodgers’s next move could surprise us, too. The earliest the Packers quarterback can return from the COVID-19 list is Saturday, one day before Green Bay’s game against Seattle. If Rodgers is cleared in time, he will play in that game. But, given the events of this past week, this might not be a routine return from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Rodgers’s positive test and mandatory 10-day quarantine revealed his unvaccinated status last week, despite his telling reporters during training camp that he was “immunized.” Rodgers then took to The Pat McAfee Show to explain himself, but in doing so spread medical misinformation and railed against the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols that were collectively bargained with the union that represents Rodgers and his NFL peers. On Monday night, an article on People.com quoted a source close to Rodgers as saying he is “upset” and “very unhappy with the response to him.” So now what? The league is investigating Rodgers’s potential noncompliance with the protocols for unvaccinated players, including his attendance at a team Halloween party and his not wearing a mask at indoor press conferences; he could face a fine. But he will also face tough questions from the media, about topics including his misleading answer that he was “immunized” and which ingredient he’s allergic to in the mRNA vaccines. If he’s “very unhappy with the response to him,” how will he handle himself in a live press conference setting? Will he even participate in press conferences or instead incur escalating fines? Will he again float the possibility of walking away from all of this, which he said he considered this past offseason? Rodgers has never been one to conceal what he is thinking, so everything is on the table for how he handles his return and the rest of the season.

4. Jeffery Simmons has emerged as one of the NFL’s top defenders. Kudos to Gary Gramling, who predicted this from Simmons on The MMQB NFL Podcast this summer, even if we looked at him askew when he made a noncomparison comparison to Aaron Donald. But the mark of a keen talent evaluator is being ahead of the curve on emerging players, and according to Pro Football Focus, Simmons leads all interior defenders with 42 QB pressures this season, one more than Donald. Simmons looked unblockable in the Titans’ Sunday night win in L.A., bulling his way through the Rams’ offensive line to sack Matthew Stafford three times and pressure him in the end zone another time to force an interception. We were not sure how the Titans would play after losing Derrick Henry, their closer, to a foot injury. But their defense answered that question in the first game without Henry, and Simmons showed that he can be a different kind of closer for the now 7–1 Titans.

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5. This is Mike Mayock’s chance to run the Raiders his way. Mayock has been the GM since 2019, but until last month, when Jon Gruden resigned after the public release of emails in which he used hate speech, Gruden was the one who had final say on all roster decisions. In the last week, Mayock has acted decisively in response to serious offenses by two recent first-round draft picks, releasing Henry Ruggs III after he was charged with multiple felonies including DUI resulting in death, and now Damon Arnette, who was shown in a video making death threats while holding a gun. “We cannot stand for the video of Damon with a gun, threatening to take a life,” Mayock said. Maybe that’s a low bar to clear, but we know how often NFL teams make excuses for talented players in whom they have invested a lot of resources. The Raiders’ '20 draft class has been nearly a total wash for the team, with both first-round picks now cut after off-field misconduct, and two of their third-round picks, Lynn Bowden Jr. and Tanner Muse, traded and cut, respectively, both without ever playing a regular-season snap for the team. Speaking about the Arnette pick Monday, Mayock took full responsibility for drafting him despite “significant concerns” about his character. It’s hard to imagine the decision to draft him was actually 100% on Mayock, but the decision to move on from him was.

6. The 49ers are going in the wrong direction. The 49ers are now 32–40 in 5 ½ seasons under Kyle Shanahan, with more than 40% of those regular-season wins coming in the 13–3 2019 season. That year, when they went to the Super Bowl, the vision of Shanahan and John Lynch seemed to be coming together even sooner than expected. They’d acquired Jimmy Garoppolo in '17 for a second-round pick, securing the QB for a bargain price, at least in part because of Bill Belichick’s belief that Garoppolo could thrive under Shanahan. Garoppolo tore his ACL the following year, but the team’s 4–12 finish allowed them to draft Nick Bosa, a player who would help propel them to their Super Bowl appearance. But if the roster seemed like it was all coming together then, the 49ers instead looked like a team in need of repair during Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals (who were missing both Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins). Yes, the Niners have been again racked by injuries this season, but their opponent was starting journeyman backup Colt McCoy. It’s fair to ask where the 49ers go from here, with a lot of holes to fill and fewer resources to work with after sacrificing a massive haul to trade up for Trey Lance.

7. We can’t rule out more moves at QB for the Saints. Maybe it will be starting Taysom Hill, the player who Sean Payton in the very recent past was so eager to get on the field that he was willing to take Drew Brees off it. Maybe it will be giving rookie Ian Book, a Conor Orr preseason sleeper for 2021, a look. Maybe it will be bringing in a free agent. But the Saints have a defense capable of shutting down defending MVP Aaron Rodgers in the opener and defending Super Bowl champion Tom Brady last week, meaning they should be able to compete with anyone. Trevor Siemian rallied in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Falcons after a lackluster start, but with games against the Titans, Bills and Cowboys in the next month, it’s very possible the Saints will be looking for other answers at the QB position to make the most out of the season.

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