Justin Fields Looks Forward to Meeting QB

Quarterback Justin Fields told Rich Eisen at the Super Bowl there is a former QB he is hoping to meet through Bears coach Matt Eberflus.

In about six weeks the Bears will be bringing some quarterbacks to Halas Hall, like Bryce Young and CJ Stroud.

It's out of Justin Fields' hands and is not necessarily going to mean the team is drafting someone to replace him, but it's merely what teams do prior to the draft with allowed player visits partly for draft strategy and also for their own personnel files. In the Bears' case, it's important to make other teams think they'd actually draft a quarterback and offer them more for a trade.

Justin Fields seems to understand this and there will be no anamosity toward the team as a result.

At least that's what he said on the Rich Eisen Show during an appearance for C4 sports drinks at the Super Bowl.

However, the Bears haven't told Fields they'll be doing this with other QBs.

"I haven't had those conversations," Fields told Eisen. "I think they take a look at free agency first and I think now they're probably starting to prep for the draft. So I haven't had conversations like that."

He might appreciate if they do contact him about it first.

"Oh yeah, I think everybody would love honesty in the process," Fields said. "I would definitely like to know that.

"It's a business, so I totally understand, no hard feelings. But like I said I can control what I can control."

Fields plans to get together with teammates in the offseason, as he said at season's end. He especially wants to work on his footwork and passing mechanics that helped cause struggles in the short passing game.

"We play for each other, no matter what our record is."

While they might be first on the clock at the #NFLDraft, @chicagobears QB @justnfields knows something is building with his young team:#NFL #SBLVII #DaBears pic.twitter.com/5RHnXmWA7L

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 9, 2023

"There's areas in my game where I need to grow," Fields said.

Coaches, GM Ryan Poles and Fields himself at season's end talked about the failures in short passing, as well.

"It's definitely a mechanic thing, so yes, just fixing those mechanics," Fields told Eisen. "Now is a time where I can really get back into it and focus on that so when the season does roll around it's going to go on all cylinders."

To help him along, he might take some advise from a new connection being arranged through coach Matt Eberflus.

"Our coach, coach Flus, just met Steve Young, so I'm looking forward to getting together with him and talking to him a little bit about playing quarterback," Fields told Eisen.

Young, the Hall-of-Fame 49ers QB, was one of the most mobile passers in the league during the 1980s and 90s. He scored once on a 49-yard scramble much as Fields scored on runs of 61 and 67 yards last year.

Running is something else Fields wants to improve on, particularly when to do it and how to do it safely. He missed two games last year due to injuries and had missed five the previous year.

"My entire thing, when I tuck the ball down and run, is to first of all protect myself because I know that that if I'm not out there on the field then I can't, of course, perform for my team," Fields said. "So that's my first thing I'm thinking of is don't take a big hit."

He pointed out how he suffered the injury against Detroit and admitted to taking too many risks.

"I think you just have to be smart in certain situations knowing where you are in the game," he said. 

Fields took a bit of kidding from Eisen about Michigan's victories the last two years over Ohio State. Fields never lost to the team "from the North," as he calls them. It's the same phrase the Bears use to describe the Packers now.

The Big Ten rivalry runs deep still for Fields.

RICH EISEN SHOW FROM THE SUPER BOWL

"I'm telling you, when you're at Ohio State and it's that week to play them (the team from the North), you've got their jerseys on the ground, you're walking over their jerseys, you put their logo in the toilets, you're peeing on the logo."

Perhaps that's something the Bears should start doing with Packer logos considering their own lack of success during Fields' (0-4) time against them, and even dating back to the start of Aaron Rodgers' time as quarterback.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven