How Bears Get the Most Out of Justin Fields

When training camp begins, the Bears are going to need to devote full attention to the passing game to get their QB where he needs to be.

When the Bears resume practice in a little less than a month, the Justin Fields watch will only intensify.

It needs to because the passing game is where the Bears must make the greatest strides.

Fields left Halas Hall vowing to work even during the month he was going to be away from the building by getting together with some of his receivers for an definite period of time. To an extent, coach Matt Eberflus thought it couldn't hurt.

"Just keep in creasing the footwork, his platform, the timing, his release," Eberflus said. "The reads, you know that's going to be a little bit hard to do during the summertime because he's not going to have a full group of (offense and defense) there, per se, but yeah, just that."

Everyone, coaching staff and teammates included, saw Fields' improvement with knowledge of the offense from a second season running it, but there are still areas he needs to work at to make the kind of advancement it's believed he can make.

It's here where it's safe to expect extensive Bears focus once practices begin July 26 as they seek to elevate his game.

3. Red Zone Passing

Fields was the most accurate red zone passer in the NFL last year in terms of completion percentage by a regular starting quarterback, or anyone who threw more than 17 red zone passes. He connected on 68.75%, 22 of 32.

This alone should instill optimism with coaches he can correct other issues he has in the passing game. So what did they do in OTAs and minicamp? They threw even more red zone drills at Fields. It's just as well, because red zone is one area they can simulate in off-season work since it really doesn't require pads for the defensive backs and wide receivers. They ran red zone 7-on-7 and full squad every practice and did it repeatedly.

The problem Fields faces in the red zone is more one of completing passes the closer he gets to the goal line and getting the ball into the end zone instead of completion percentage.

While he led inside the 20 in completion percentage, he was ninth inside the 10-yard line. And he was only 15th at throwing touchdown passes within the red zone.

It's much more difficult to run in the red zone for Fields or anyone else. So getting it into the end zone via the pass is the way to avoid red zone offensive issues.

"Those are tight throws inside there," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "The closer you get the tighter the throws are. So you gotta be able to put 'em low and away sometimes. Sometimes you gotta put 'em high and outside. It's really important. The accuracy down there is so important, and being on the same page as the receivers."

The key is getting his footwork down within the offense because so many of the red zone throws are done rapidly off timing.

"I think he's made a conscious effort to make himself smoother, make himself more fluid, letting his feet lead him and then everything else mirrors off of that," quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko said. "To me, that's where we've seen some growth. It's what he's put a real focus on. Just quantifying that as we get out there, completing more balls and putting ourselves in those situations in a game, then it goes to training camp. Hopefully we see some carryover there."

 2. Short Passes

There's no way to be gentle about it. When Fields threw short last year he was bad, so this could be the area he can make the biggest strides and also fastest improvement. He even noted at one point last year how he was a bit envious of how former backup Trevor Siemian checked down quickly and got the ball out fast to the third or fourth receivers in short routes.

According to NFLGSIS.com, the Bears were last in the league at yards gained when they threw short passes to the left at 4.58 yards average. When they threw short over the middle, they gained 7.73 yards on average and that was last in the league. When they threw short and to the right, the Bears were last in the league with an average gain of 4.93 yards.

In terms of completion percentage, they weren't a lot better with one exception that deserves an asterisk.

When they threw short and to the right, they completed 55%. That was last in the league. When they threw short and to the left, they completed 68.7%, which was 25th of the league's 32 teams. However, when they threw over the middle short, they completed 78.57% and that was the best completion percentage in the NFL.

Before getting too excited about this, remember the Bears were 3-14 and trailed most of the time. So they were in comeback mode plenty. Defenses with the lead are willing to give up the underneath coverage short and over the middle because they'll take it as a trade-off with hopes of taking away the ball via deflection and interception or an errant throw under pressure. There will be someone available to tackle a defender short and over the middle, so it basically becomes a gimme.

Fields worked a lot on deep passes to DJ Moore during OTAs and minicamp but anticipates their connection will carry over to short passes, too.

"That's one thing that I was kind of impressed about, like, with the offense coming in and just (Moore) understanding, seeing coverages really well on short routes and stuff like that," Fields said. "He's been great. And you know, the chemistry has really picked up."

1. Passing, Period

Their training camp needs to take on a similar tone as their OTAs and training camp. Even if it does come at a cost of some running game reps, they need to throw and throw and throw more.

"We've got to take a step forward," Janocko said. "That has to be a strong point in our game. That has to be a strongpoint to help this team win games."

They're not going to get where they need to get in the offense by throwing 377 passes again like last year. Fields himself threw 318 times. That was only 10 more times than Jimmy Garoppolo and he played 11 games while Fields played 15. It was only 15 more times than Matthew Stafford and Fields played seven more games than Stafford. It was seven fewer times than Ryan Tannehill threw it but Tannehill played three fewer games.

There were 26 quarterbacks who threw more passes than Fields last year.

"We want to see more completions," Janocko said. "We want to see more explosives, everything that coach Flus has laid out for us in the offseason, where we can grow as an offense.

"We know that we ran the ball well. We know that Justin has special talents doing that. Where our weak spots at. And are we seeing growth there. We're seeing growth within his progressions. We're seeing growth within his—as he continues to understand the offense. We're seeing that. And then, yeah, we're happy where we're going." 

No doubt they'll be happier when he arrives there, and to get there is going to require a lot more passes of all types.

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