Ryan Poles: It's a Team Building Project
More than any problem facing Bears GM Ryan Poles, the Justin Fields issue is one that will run on without a real end this season.
That is, unless the Bears have some sort of miracle turnaround in a first-year rebuild.
Critics immediately saw Poles using his meager salary cap space and draft picks for defense and not a bigger-name receiver or blocking help, and saw an executive setting up a quarterback for failure with an eye possibly on getting his own quarterback in the draft next year.
At his preseason press conference Thursday, Poles said this is anything but that case.
"Listen, when we're building this thing, that was the goal coming in is try and surround him with the best talent that we can," Poles said about Fields. "But at the same time, I've never gotten away from we have to try and build the entire roster. I'm not going to overreach and do things crazy to get a name or anything.
"Our approach has been consistent from the draft all the way through. We're going to continue to add talent all around, the best that we can, it might not be the name or a name that everyone wants to hear, but we're going to develop the players that we have here. We're going to continue to fight to make that (the receiving corps) the best unit that we can."
Poles maintains there are weapons in place now for Fields.
"(Darnell) Mooney is balling right now," Poles said. "I'm excited about him. That's going to help Justin. I'm excited about Cole (Kmet). I think our protections and our O-line's gotten before.
"Some of the guys have been a little dinged up so it's hard to see everything. But when they get back, I'm excited about that. I'm excited about Velus (Jones Jr.) coming in and making plays and being a factor that can do different things and bring speed."
Ultimately, Poles pointed out, it takes time.
"I understand that to do it all right away, that's hard to do with some of the resources that you have," he said.
"So over time, we're going to continue to do that. That's always in our head is to put our quarterback in the best situation."
Poles isn't joining in on the turning point crowd. Much was made of Poles' effort against the Cleveland Browns in preseason as a possible pivotal moment for Fields.
There was, at least, symmetry involved. Fields had been terrible in Cleveland in his first start when coach Matt Nagy left him out to dry without sufficient blocking against blitzes, and then he returned for three meaningless touchdown passes in an exhibition game.
It's clear Poles believes the effort has been overrated.
"With the preseason, you don't want to overvalue preseason," Poles said. "You don't want to undervalue. It's somewhere in the middle. So it was positive, so we'll take that, and let's just see.
"The lights are going to come on and it's going to be real and they're going to count, so we'll see from there, but I'm happy with the progress."
Nevertheless, he saw a more confident quarterback.
"Yeah, I think there's progress being made," Poles said. "He looked comfortable. I think before, again, I kind of talked about all of this, his technique and his fundamentals and his feet, and then the new offense, the new coaches, the new system, there's a lot going on both physically and mentally.
"So I thought as the preseason has played out and even practice you could see things start to slow down and him read defenses quicker and pull the trigger and it was really cool to see him finish up that way."
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