Ryan Poles had two choices when the off-season began. Either he uses the #1 overall pick to find a new quarterback, or he uses that to build around Justin Fields. Plenty of experts urged the Chicago Bears GM to take the first option. Fields hadn’t shown enough progress in 2022 as a passer to justify giving him another season. Poles didn’t see it that way. He saw a young quarterback in a tough situation battle through adversity and still manage to show some progress. With a better supporting cast and more experience in the system, it wasn’t crazy to think Fields could improve.
So that is what he did. Nate Davis and Darnell Wright arrived to bolster the offensive line. D.J. Moore came in to add firepower at wide receiver. Robert Tonyan did the same at tight end. Suddenly the offense looks credible. Combine that with a second year in the same offense, and Fields had everything in place. The only thing left for Poles to do was lay down a challenge. He did that during his opening press conference ahead of training camp. Fields needed to continue progressing with his timing and rhythm, with one big focus: the two-minute offense.
“Fields continued to hook up with star wide receiver DJ Moore for big plays, showed improved chemistry with new tight end Robert Tonyan, and orchestrated a brilliant two-minute drill to cap off the first week of practice.
Fields wasn’t perfect. There were some poor decisions, but that’s expected early in camp. If you look back at the first week of camp in 2022, the offense was a clunky disaster that struggled to move the ball even in half-speed drills.
That hasn’t been the case so far this year. Fields has been relatively sharp, showcasing improved timing and footwork. On Saturday, he showed off his legs in the red zone when he rolled right, froze the defense with a pump fake, and sprinted to the pylon for an easy score. Later, he threaded in a laser to Moore at the front pylon just out of the reach of cornerback Kyler Gordon.
Fields finished the day with chunk plays to Moore and Kmet before hitting Equanimeous St. Brown for a touchdown in the end-of-half, two-minute drill.”
He hasn’t been good in two-minute situations since he arrived in Chicago two years ago. When trailing with two minutes to go in the half or game, he is 29-of-48 for 337 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions. Not all of that is his fault. It takes 11 guys to execute in a hurry-up situation. Still, the Bears lost some close games last year because they couldn’t deliver in the two-minute. Fixing that problem is a core focus of this training camp, and it looks like they’re already seeing results.
It isn’t like Justin Fields is incapable of delivering in the clutch. He led a big comeback over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship in 2019. One also shouldn’t forget his 12-point 4th quarter to come back and beat San Francisco. One shouldn’t forget he should’ve had two more against Washington and Miami. Sadly they were undone by a bobbled pass by Darnell Mooney and an outright drop by Equanimeous St. Brown. Fields can make it happen. Now he finally has the help to prove it.
