Justin Fields calling out Chicago Bears coaches earlier this season may not have done much to ingratiate himself with coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, but that doesn't mean he was wrong.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported that while Fields' comments "raised eyebrows" around the league, rival executives say the young quarterback "has not been put in the best position to succeed due to a lack of help around him."
Chicago has had one of the league's worst skill-position groups in each of Fields' first three seasons. While the team acquired DJ Moore this offseason in an effort to improve said group, Moore is a solid-but-unspectacular receiver who has never made a Pro Bowl.
The Bears have also hamstrung Fields with confusing play calling early in the season. After the Ohio State product had significant success as a rusher in 2022, Getsy has essentially abandoned designed run calls for his quarterback. The Bears have also utilized play action passes and taken Fields outside the pocket on designed rollouts significantly less often than in his first two seasons.
The result has been largely a mess, save for a strong performance against an awful Broncos defense last week. Fields has thrown for 861 yards and seven touchdowns against five interceptions while rushing for a disappointing 134 yards and one score. His QBR (35.7) is more than 20 points lower than his number from last season (56.3).
Fields admitted his play has been robotic, essentially pointing the finger in the coaching staff's direction in the process.
"You know, could be coaching, I think," Fields said. "At the end of the day, they are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can't be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week, and then when the game comes, it's time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more."
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Fields would later backtrack on the comments, saying his initial thoughts were taken out of context.
"You guys' jobs are to get clicks. So, it's like, take my quote out of context and we can just say that," Fields told reporters. "If you paint the picture on the inside out, y'all are trying to split us up.
"I'm not blaming anything on the coaches, I'm never going to blame anything on the coaches. I'm never going to blame anything on my teammates. Whatever happens in the game, I will take all the blame. ... Just know that I need to play better—that's it, point blank."
That said, it's clear others around the league feel the Bears are failing him in more ways than one.
