Bears bristle at late, malicious hits on QB Justin Fields
Justin Fields took eight quarterback hits in addition to hits on his run plays Sunday.
Quinn Harris/Getty Images
The Bears once again are asking the NFL to step in and prevent an ongoing problem of late and dangerous hits on quarterback Justin Fields.
Coach Matt Eberflus said Monday the team is persistent in appealing to the league to pay more attention to it, and safety Jaquan Brisker believes opposing players are being coached to hit Fields in the head and late.
Eberflus was upset about several hits Fields took against the Lions last month and saw at least one objectionable hit Sunday in the Bears’ 28-13 win over the Lions. He said he is constantly on the referees about it.
“I’m very active on that,” Eberflus said. “I’m always in their ear about that because protecting the quarterbacks in this league is big. Those guys are the league, so it’s important that we do that and we continue to do that.
“If you have a guy that’s a runner and he slides down like that, we’ve gotta protect him. ... We’ve just gotta make sure we take care of our quarterbacks.”
Eberflus “wasn’t happy” about Lions linebacker Jack Campbell hitting Fields in the head well after his slide on the Bears’ first play of the game, a one-yard scramble.
Eberflus added there might have been one other hit on a scramble that crossed the line, but he wanted to rewatch it.