Chicago Bears: 3 takeaways from Justin Fields’ debut performance
Justin Fields was poised under pressure.
The thing that stood out most about Justin Fields’ performance — even when he stumbled a bit out of the gate — was his poise. He never looked rushed, overwhelmed, or like he didn’t belong in the NFL. It’s tough to put into words, but he just looked different out there.
There was simply no panic or spasticity like we have seen recently in our quarterbacks. If he looked like an unflappable quarterback who has been battle-tested by big-stakes games, it’s because that’s exactly who he is.
So it was no surprise after the game to hear those platitudes heaped upon him by former players, and his current head coach.
Bears head coach Matt Nagy on Justin Fields: “The one thing that you felt from Justin … was that he was extremely calm the whole time.”
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 14, 2021
But what was even more impressive was Fields’ honesty when adhering a question about the speed of his first game.
Justin Fields on the speed of the NFL game: “It was actually kind of slow to me to be honest.”
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) August 14, 2021
It was a breath of fresh air watching Fields calmly scan the field in the face of pressure, going through his progressions before running as a last resort. It was refreshing to see him use his legs to move the pocket and buy some time to make plays. It was worth rejoicing over seeing him scramble towards the first down marker, draw the defense and flick it 10-yards for a first down rather than run out of bounds short of the sticks.
In other words, it was the antithesis of everything Bears fans have seen from their quarterbacks over the last — well — let’s just say it’s been a while.