GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields has been through all this before.
That helps explain why he refuses to spend the offseason dwelling on his uncertain future as the Bears debate whether to keep him as their starter or select his replacement with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft.
“It’s not like we didn’t have the No. 1 pick last year,” Fields said Sunday after the Bears’ season ended with a 17-9 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Indeed, they did.
The Bears had the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 but traded it to the Carolina Panthers, who moved up in the draft to take Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. The package the Bears received in exchange included star receiver DJ Moore as well as Carolina’s top pick in 2024.
Since Carolina (2-15) posted the NFL’s worst record this season, the Bears are on the clock. Do they stick with Fields or use the No. 1 overall pick on a quarterback such as Southern California’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye?
“I control what I can control,” Fields said. “And I’m going to get healthy this offseason, spend time with my family and get better. Like I said, we went through the same thing last year, we had the No. 1 pick, everybody was asking, ‘What if? What if? What if?’ And nothing happened.
“I’m not saying that nothing might happen, because, shoot, we all don’t know. But I’m not going to let the potential or what if, what if not stress me from enjoying life and going through my everyday life.”
The difference between the two draft situations is that last year Fields was coming off a promising 2022 season in which he rushed for 1,143 yards. The Bears had plenty of reason to believe Fields was their long-term solution and would benefit from having Moore as a go-to receiver.
Now there’s a bit more skepticism about Fields, at least from the outside. Chicago coach Matt Eberflus acknowledged Sunday the passing attack didn’t make the gains the Bears expected after they added Moore.
“Of course, there were a lot of ups and downs,” Fields said. “But I grew a lot, learned a lot this year. And I think it’s going to do nothing but help me in the future.”
Whether that future is in Chicago or elsewhere remains uncertain.
There’s certainly reason to wonder if Fields will ever develop into a consistent enough passer. The 2021 first-round pick has completed just over 60% of his career pass attempts for 40 touchdowns with 30 interceptions. The Bears have gone 10-28 in his 38 career starts.
“We’re looking at all those evaluations as we go forward,” Eberflus said. “It’s not just Justin. It’s not just the quarterback position. We’re looking at production from everything. How can we improve the Chicago Bears going into the 2024 season with the acquisitions that we get? And that’s through free agency, we still have good space there, and also through the draft. And that’s going to be important.”
Fields’ performance Sunday reflected his inconsistency.
The Bears reached Green Bay territory on each of their six possessions, but never reached the end zone and scored just nine points. Fields was 11 of 16 for 148 yards but got sacked five times. The Packers neutralized Fields’ exceptional rushing ability by limiting him to 27 yards on eight carries.
After the game, Packers linebacker Quay Walker discussed Green Bay’s plan for handling Fields.
“We know any time we can take away his first read, whether we’re in man or zone, he’s pretty much going to take off,” Walker said. “And whenever we can keep him in the pocket and allow him just to play quarterback and not allow him to run, we’ve got a real, real good chance of winning the game once we can do that.”
Chicago has made plenty of progress, improving from 3-14 last year to 7-10 this season. The defense’s improvement over the second half of the season showed the Bears could compete for a playoff berth if they get more from their offense.
Now they must decide whether Fields can provide that production. Fields wasn’t making any guesses Sunday regarding what direction the Bears might take.
“I’m not sure,” Fields said. “Like I said, that decision is not in my hands.”
But he acknowledged how much it would mean if the Bears showed their faith in him again by trading that No. 1 pick or using it on another position.
“At the end of the day, this is a business, so they have to make the tough decisions,” Fields said. “My job is just to go out there and play my best. But it would mean a lot just to get that confirmation from them and just really send a message that they trust me to lead this team and be the quarterback of the Bears.”
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