Chicago Bears: 5 reasons why Jay Cutler was completely wrong about the Bears QB situation
Issue One: Jay Cutler ignored the importance of the chip on Justin Fields’ shoulder
"“He seems to have a little chip on his shoulder which I don’t think is a bad thing you know, but like we’ve talked about numerous times playing quarterback, you know there’s a lot of moving parts.” -Jay Cutler via Waddle and Silvy podcast"
Like many of us, Cutler sees the chip that Justin Fields plays with, but I believe he fails to acknowledge how that chip has helped prepare Fields for all the moving parts associated with playing quarterback and perhaps, more importantly, handling the spotlight of playing in Chicago. Later on in his interview, Cutler had this to say about Fields’ college experience.
"“He came from Ohio State, he’s played in big games before so I don’t think he’s going to mind it [on pressure in Chicago] much, but I will say that you know this isn’t Ohio State, this isn’t college football. The playing field gets leveled really quickly in the NFL so you’re going to get humbled, bad things are going to happen.” – Jay Cutler via Waddle and Silvy"
Cutler drew parallels between playing at Ohio State and how while that is a great experience, it still doesn’t make you “ready” for the pressure of playing in the NFL. To be fair, Cutler was not trying to say Fields’ experience specifically did not prepare him but was rather trying to say nothing in college will prepare any player for what they’ll see in the NFL.
However, Cutler, by his own admission, stated that he has not watched a lot of tape on Fields, but for any of us that watched Fields come back to beat Clemson in this year’s college football playoff after his loss to them last year and his inspired performance against Alabama in the college football championship despite being injured, know how big his chip is and just how ready he will be by week 1.
Justin Fields has shown he has the mental toughness all NFL coaches desire in their players which Cutler argued is a pre-requisite skill to have before becoming a successful NFL QB. Much of his readiness to play right away is a result of that chip on his shoulder which Cutler failed to recognize in these comments.