Fields’ goal: Keep up with Jones
2022 schedule features matchup vs. Pats QB, whom the Bears passed on
The Bears are in their second week of organized team activities at Halas Hall, continuing to adapt as new coach Matt Eberflus and his assistants get their program up and running. The Bears will hold three practices this week, with Tuesday’s session open to reporters.
As the team continues to grind through the spring, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.
1. Side by side
Twenty-two weeks from now, a prime-time audience should be treated to an intriguing duel between quarterbacks Justin Fields and Mac Jones. Chicago Bears at New England Patriots on the “Monday Night Football” stage. Another head-to-head showdown between Class of 2021 QBs.
That was one of the “must circle” games for the Bears when their schedule was released.
The Bears took an aggressive swing at addressing the quarterback position in the 2021 draft, giving up their first- and fourthround picks in 2022 plus a 2021 fifth-rounder to vault from No. 20 to No. 11. General manager Ryan Pace, coach Matt Nagy and their staffs had their eyes on Fields, convinced he would emerge as a transcendent star with his arm strength, athleticism and poise and passion.
But that also meant the organization passed over Jones, who went into the draft lauded for his ability to process but still wound up as the fifth and final quarterback taken in the first round.
Jones was selected at No. 15 behind Trevor Lawrence (No. 1), Zach Wilson (No. 2), Trey Lance (No. 3) and Fields but went on to have the best season of the five.
Jones beat out Cam Newton for the starting job in training camp, found his comfort early and completed 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns in 17 starts. He posted a 92.5 passer rating as a rookie, propelled the Patriots into the playoffs as a wild card and played in the Pro Bowl as an alternate.
At this point in the post-Tom Brady era, the Patriots feel as if they have their quarterback box checked for years to come. Shrewd patience in letting the 2021 draft board come to them or just plain old serendipity?
Said new ESPN “Monday Night Football” commentator Joe Buck: “One thing we’ll never know — because he’ll never say — is did Bill Belichick luck into Mac Jones? Did he know that Mac Jones was still going to be there?”
Furthermore, did Belichick have any inkling Jones would be so comfortable and productive as a rookie? Or, if given the first run through the 2021 quarterback buffet line, might the Patriots have ranked Jones fourth or fifth in their preferred pecking order?
Whatever the case, Buck and ESPN color analyst Troy Aikman are eager to have the call of the Week 7 Jones-Fields clash this fall.
“You have those two going head to head?” Buck said. “And two big markets on a Monday night? Can’t wait.”
Jones and Fields head into their second seasons undergoing significant transitions. Fields faces a more extreme climb, adapting to a new coach in Eberflus and new offensive coordinator in Luke Getsy, who is installing a new system at Halas Hall while entrusting much of Fields’ daily development to new quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko.
Jones is crossing a different bridge after longtime Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left in January to become the Las Vegas Raiders coach. In vintage Belichick form, the Patriots have yet to name a replacement for McDaniels, to this point refusing to designate a new coordinator in charge of calling plays and overseeing the development of Jones and the offense.
“I’m not big on titles,” Belichick said in March.
Still, amid change, Aikman said he will judge Fields’ progress the same way he will judge all the second-year quarterbacks in 2022.
“Ultimately it’s based on wins,” Aikman said. “But does he help the team win? Does he play the position the way the position needs to be played in those moments when winning and losing is hanging in the balance?”
Aikman would like to see Fields’ capabilities translate to on-field production.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he can do that,” Aikman said. “Because he has done it. He’s done it at a high level in college (at Ohio State).”
While acknowledging that Fields’ rookie-season inconsistencies were caused by myriad factors, Aikman also doesn’t want the quarterback to use the Bears’ widespread 2022 changes as a convenient fallback excuse for struggling.
“There will be discussions — as I’m sure there already have been in Chicago — about Justin Fields having to learn a new offense, a new scheme, those kinds of things,” Aikman said. “But it’s only problematic if they bring in someone who’s (not) good. If they bring in an offensive guy who’s good, who can coordinate that offense and get the best out of the players they have, then it’s a good move.”
In other words Getsy’s fingerprints will be all over the offensive progress.
After a 1-15 rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, Aikman was given David Shula as his new quarterbacks coach for Year 2. The next season the Cowboys hired Norv Turner as offensive coordinator and began a run in which they made the playoffs in eight of nine seasons while winning three Super Bowls.
In that case, Aikman stressed, change was beneficial.
“It was welcomed with open arms,” he said. “(Norv) was fantastic. And we immediately went from the worst offense in football to a top-10 offense.
“(With the Bears), we’ll find out in time.”
Certainly, Fields’ late-October trip to Foxborough, Mass., sets up to be one of the more exciting matchups and perhaps the best measuring-stick game on the front half of the Bears’ schedule. The chance to compete against Jones and have the two respective offensives be compared side by side will be interesting.
It also will open the door for renewed conversations about where the careers of each young quarterback seem to be headed.
Five or six years ago there seemed to be escalating worry about how the NFL would transition when its fraternity of quarterback legends faded from the picture. Where would the league go without Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, without Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers?
Heading into the 2022 season, the pack of young quarterback stars is solid. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. Perhaps even Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson and Dak Prescott.
Said Aikman: “The league has been in good hands and continues to be in good hands with the young quarterbacks we have in the game right now.”
The big question here, of course, is which Class of 2021 quarterbacks can barge into that conversation. And will the Bears be in good hands for the foreseeable future with Fields at the controls of their offense?
2. ‘How he survives’
During a span of 2 ½ hours on April 30 Bears GM Ryan Poles navigated the final day of the NFL draft with purpose, deciding it was most practical to go on an offensive line shopping spree. Poles added two tackles and two interior linemen to his roster:
Braxton Jones from Southern Utah
Zachary Thomas from San Diego State
Doug Kramer from Illinois
Ja’Tyre Carter from Southern
Of most significance in Poles’ mind, he was adding competition to the position room at Halas Hall that holds a special place in his heart.
From a distance Bears starting center Lucas Patrick pumped a fist.
“It’s great,” Patrick said. “Bring 30 guys in. We can only have five (starters) and it’s only going to push guys further.
“It’s going to push me further. I’m going to push other guys further.”
The enthusiasm in Patrick’s voice was unmistakable.
“I’m so fired up that our GM is a former offensive lineman,” he said, “because I think he gets it to the core — what it takes to build an offensive line. It’s (about being) tough, competitive, smart. Just guys who love football and want to compete.”
The Bears still have a long way to go to fully fortify the line. And it was notable that even with that flurry of Day 3 draft picks Poles’ investment in the offensive line was modest at best throughout this offseason.
Patrick was the team’s biggest offensive signing in free agency, arriving on a two-year, $8 million deal. But Poles used three Day 2 draft selections on other positions before starting his line binge with the selection of Jones in Round 5 at pick No. 168. (By that point, 27 offensive linemen had been selected.)
Still, even as Poles understands the need to upgrade the talent on the offensive line, he sees an opening to build depth, create competition and establish an edge right away. To that last mission, Patrick’s arrival is still being celebrated at Halas Hall.
The former Green Bay Packer has, well, um, a tone-setting personality, which is a nice way of cleaning up Poles’ glowing compliment of Patrick from earlier this spring.
“He’s a prick,” Poles said, “and he knows it.”
Just to elaborate a little bit … “That’s how he survives,” Poles said. “And that’s what we need up front. Just (playing offensive line) myself, that’s contagious. Other people either have got to go with it or you just don’t fit in.”
Following one of last week’s practices Patrick described the aggressive mentality he brings.
“Football is played a certain way,” he said. “It’s not a contact sport; it’s a collision sport.
“And as the offensive line we have two duties, whether it’s run or pass. If it’s a run, we’re denting the defense; if it’s a pass, we’re setting a wall. That’s the expectation every man should have when they put on a Chicago Bears helmet as an offensive lineman.”
As of now, Patrick and left guard Cody Whitehair might be the only two linemen who are certain Week 1 starters. Second-year tackles Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom will be evaluated as possible firstunit contributors, on the right and left sides, respectively.
Veteran Sam Mustipher has been working with the starters at right guard with a lot left to prove to the coaching staff and front office. Poles hopes none of his linemen feels complacent and that a few rookies can emerge as legitimate competitors for starting roles.
During OTAs and into next month’s minicamp, Patrick sees an opportunity for the line to make significant progress.
“Get better, compete and get tough,” he said.
He also highlighted the arrival of a pack of hungry rookies as a means of staying sharper himself.
“They see different things; they are asking me questions,” Patrick said. “And I have got to be even more on top of my game with what I know mentally because I know they are going to ask a ton of questions.”
Patrick said former Packer Corey Linsley helped show him the ropes as a young player, teaching him the professional approach and dogged mindset needed to excel in the NFL.
“He never took anything for granted,” Patrick said. “He showed up to work every day. He had fun too and let us see his personality, but it was work.
“He helped instill the fact that this isn’t about us. It’s about our families and providing and setting up brighter and better futures by working hard and doing the right things.”
Now Patrick is intent on paying that forward with the younger linemen at Halas Hall, hoping to use his experience, knowledge and a bit of his nasty edge to help the Bears offensive line turn a corner.
3. Taking the lead
Eberflus isn’t ready yet to designate team captains for 2022. As of last week he said he hadn’t even cemented a philosophy on whether to name seasonlong captains or spread that role out among players week by week. Still, Eberflus was adamant that he has had his eyes open since his first day on the job, looking to identify leaders to help propel the Bears forward.
“The leadership on a football team is the No. 1 priority you have to establish,” he said. “That starts with the coaches. But what’s more important is the leadership in the locker room.”
It’s still early in Eberflus’ tenure. His first Bears team is just in Phase 3 of the offseason program.
Organized team activities continue this week and will last into June in Lake Forest. A mandatory minicamp is on the itinerary next month before the team separates for summer break and reconvenes for training camp in late July.
At every step along the way Eberflus is watching to see which players have the work ethic, focus and energy to become tone-setters.
“I love to observe people,” Eberflus said. “Being a good leader is about action. It’s about doing the things you need to do and (it’s about) execution on the football field first. A lot of our guys are rising to the top (in that regard).”
Eventually, Eberflus senses, the team’s best leaders will be obvious.
“I let it happen organically, just by observing it,” he said. “I set the parameters and the standards of our football team, how we operate. And the guys that operate in that way certainly can be themselves, no question about it. But the cream will rise to the top. It always does.
“This is my 30th year as a coach and I’ve seen it every single year. It will rise to the top.”
Ideally, Eberflus said, he would like to have an obvious leader at each position group. With the Bears still in the middle of a roster overhaul, the team’s identity and chemistry is still taking shape. Of the 90 players who participated in last week’s OTAs, 56 weren’t with the organization last season.
Over time,the captain question will have more obvious answers.
“You hold guys to the standard,” Eberflus said. “What will happen then is, ‘Oh, there’s one, there’s one, there’s one and there’s one.’ … We’re working to get that and we’ll see where it goes.”