Justin Fields Shoves Frustration Aside

Bears passing combination of Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney search for an answer to why it isn't working like they expected.

It's been several days of fighting back frustration for Justin Fields and for wide receiver Darnell Mooney.

The Bears quarterback has experienced two rough outings in succession after the season-opening game held in a constant downpour, and the passing attack looked better when Soldier Field was flooding in many respects than it has on dry land.

"It's life, it's football, you're going to make mistakes," Fields said. "You're not going to be perfect. (It's) just learning from your mistakes and making sure it doesn't happen again."

The film review of Sunday's 23-20 win over Houston wasn't pleasant as Fields saw his two interceptions and only 8 of 17 passing for 106 yards. Now he has to try to snap out of it against a New York Giants pass defense ranked 10th in the league.

"It was frustrating," he said. "It was frustrating for sure but got to learn from the mistakes."

Fields hasn't reached a point where he's talking to himself or experiencing depression, and he's confident he can pull out of the slow start without getting extra help outside the coaching staff, such as a mental coach to help keep his attitude positive.

"I've had bad games before," he said. "This isn't my first bad game I've ever had. Just looking at the past: What can you do to get better? What can you do to improve? Just how you look at situations that maybe you've had in the past like this and what’d you do to respond to it.

"We have a guy here for mental health, so if I'm ever down that bad, I can go talk to him. But really just learning from your mistakes, knowing that you're not gonna be perfect and just moving on and accepting the fact that we won the game. It's easier to correct mistakes after a win than a loss, of course, so just correcting each and every mistake and just trying to be better in every aspect."

The connection Fields has with Mooney is one of the more perplexing aspects of the Bears offensive start. 

The two spent parts of the offseason working together as they hoped to pick up where they left off in a different offense with a different coaching staff in 2021, when Mooney made 81 receptions.

Instead, Mooney has four catches in three games for 27 yards. He's not alone, though. None of the Bears wide receivers have more than four receptions. Running back David Montgomery leads with five catches.

"We still have the connection," Fields said. "We're not gonna force it."

Fields did get the feeling he might have been staring too much on passes at Mooney.

"I feel like, y'all (reporters) talking about it: You know, I was staring him down a few too many times in the game," Fields said. "He probably told me that too. 'Bro, don't try to force anything. Just let it all come.'

"That's what we’re gonna do. When the time comes, that time will come."

Mooney agrees it's a matter of time and timing in the routes.

"I mean, obviously, everything is a little new to us with the plays and all that but we have time to get things together," Mooney said. "The defense has our back.

"That's the good thing about having a team, you have guys that have your back. Just have guys that lead you throughout the game, throughout the path of the season. We have time to get it together and we will."

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