Justin Fields Apology Galvanizes Bears
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When Justin Fields apologized to defensive teammates for failing to score the tying or winning points at game's end Sunday, Eddie Jackson had a quick answer.
"I was basically apologizing and Bo(Jack) kind of stopped me and just said 'The game is not won or lost with one play,' " Fields said. " 'We all have to be better.'
"Then after that we just kind of just broke it down as a team and we went on about our business."
Fields' apology further galvanized a team in the midst of a terrible losing stretch of seven defeats in eight weeks, including six by a touchdown and conversion or less.
"I play pretty much for those guys in the locker room," Fields said. "I see how much work they put in each and every day. So just having them as my teammates, having the leaders we do have on this team, being there for everybody and lead like they do, I thinabk it's a big example of how our team is and how we’re built and what our culture is here. Glad to see that for sure."
Bears linebacker Nicholas Morrow called it only natural for Jackson to step up and take on some responsibility. Fields didn't deserve all the blame even if their last chance ended on an interception he threw.
"That's a huge responsibility to take on, right?" Morrow said. "That's leadership when guys take responsibility for their actions.
"But it's also not on him. It's on all of us. We can't really put the burden on one person."
The defense did allow the go-ahead field goal moments before Fields' interception. He decided on the spur of the moment to address them afterward.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer heard about the situation and tweeted about it on Tuesday.
'I was getting my shoulder checked out and before I went to go get the X-ray, I just wanted to talk to the team," Fields explained. "Because, I mean, it was 27-24. The defense held them to a field goal so they gave us that opp.
"Of course, any time we have that opportunity to either go tie the game or even go win the game for the team, we want to do that. So I apologized to those guys, especially for that game-ending pick. I felt like they did their job in terms of holding them to a field goal. It's not like they gave up a touchdown so we needed to then score a touchdown. So they did their job of holding them to a field goal and all the offense needed to do was go get points and we didn't do that. We just have to get better in those situations and keep going."
It remains the biggest Bears problem considering all the narrow defeats.
The only win in the last two minutes came against Houston and it was the defense that set up Cairo Santos' winning field goal with Roquan Smith's interception and return to the Houston 12, not a last-minute offensive drive.
Fields sees the offense eventually getting it right.
"Of course, it's tough in the time and moment," he said. "But you just have to keep going and keep working and those opps are going to come again, and when they do you have to make sure you capitalize on them."
Twitter: BearDigest @BearsOnMaven
