‘He’s a beast’: Browns are well aware of Bears rookie Justin Fields
Rookie cornerback Greg Newsome II knows full well that the Browns must fear “the beast.”
That’s how the Northwestern University product described Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields, the 2019 Heisman Trophy finalist from Ohio State who will make his first NFL start Sunday at Firstenergy Stadium.
“He’s a beast ... He’s electric as well,” Newsome said.
Fields is taking over after Andy Dalton suffered a bone bruise in his left knee against the Cincinnati Bengals.
At this point in his career, Fields may be more dangerous with his feet than his arm, and the Browns have given up a rushing touchdown to the opposing quarterback in each of the first two games.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes scored on a 5-yard run in Week 1 and the Houston Texans’ Tyrod Taylor had a 15-yard TD last Sunday.
The 11th overall pick, Fields ran for 867 yards and 15 touchdowns in two seasons at Ohio State. He’s seen limited action in two games for the Bears, completing 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards with an interception and rushing 11 times for 34 yards and a touchdown. That 3-yard score came Sept. 12 in the third quarter of a 34-14 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Browns middle linebacker Malcolm Smith expects defensive coordinator Joe Woods to pressure Fields.
“He’s a really good athlete. He was awesome in college,” Smith said. “It seems like he can make every throw, and obviously, he can make plays with his legs. We are just going to try and challenge him. I am sure they are going to have some special stuff built in for
him because he is a high draft pick and a special player.”
Defensive end Myles Garrett said Fields, 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, is nothing like the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, listed at 6-2 and 212.
“He’s bigger than most guys that have that kind of speed,” Garrett said of Fields. “Lamar is a 4.2 guy, but he’s not the biggest guy running. He’s built kind of like a leaner receiver. Justin is a complete drop-back quarterback, but he has some speed in him, kind of like … no, I’m not going to say that.” Garrett stopped short as he was about to make a comparison to an NFL star.
“He has such speed, it’s kind of unpredictable,” Garrett said. “Whether he’ll take it downfield or he’ll throw it, it puts our DBS in a bind whether they come up and make the play or whether they plaster and let him just keep on running. We have to keep him in the pocket so he doesn’t have that two-way option.”
Garrett said the Browns are prepared if they see a lot of read options.
“We’re fast too,” Garrett said. “We’ll be able to watch the read and see if he wants to pull it, and if he does, we’ll be ready.”