Justin Fields More Up to Speed This Time
Bears quarterback Justin Fields is learning quickly, and the Bears would also like to see that kind of expediency in his development on the field.
When asked Friday by media about the speed of the game in his first start at Cleveland, Fields thought back to his preseason debut against Miami when he shocked everyone by saying he thought NFL defenses would be at a faster level.
"I'm not even gonna comment on that because y'all take it way too out of proportion," Fields told the media. "Every time I throw an incomplete pass, I get an at on Instagram talking about, 'I thought the game speed was too slow.' So I'm not even gonna answer that question no more."
Fields thinks he'll be better prepared for a second start if necessary, faster speed or not.
It's going to be a game-time decision between Fields and Andy Dalton said coach Matt Nagy after Friday's practice.
"Of course it's different being in the league and losing like that in the NFL, but everybody on our team has been a part of bad losses and has faced adversity," Fields said. "So I think if they didn't handle it in the right way, they wouldn't be here today.
"So I think we all learn from that, of course, and we've all experienced that before. Our mindset is don't let that affect us this week and don't let Cleveland beat us twice. Learn from out mistakes in that game, move on and get better."
Fields completed only 6 of 20 for 68 yards in his first start and is at 14 for 35 for 138 yards on the season.
Not knowing for certain if he's going to start or if it's going to be Dalton does present a bit of a dilemma, but nothing he hasn't seen.
"Pretty much like the first week," Fields said. "Being second-string, you've got to prepare like you're the starter, so you've got to be prepared whether or not you're going out there or not. So I've just been approaching it like that."
The big concern about Fields' struggle and his team's issues in his starting debut was he might have damaged his development with such a poor game. He laughed this off and said even if he didn't get to play again right away he would somehow cope.
"It's not hard. It's not complicated. You've just got to do it," Fields said. "Things happen in life where they might not go your way or might not happen the way you want it to, but you can't control that.
"Control the things you can control and face the fact and deal with it right there."
Even though the game went so poorly for Fields, he found value in it because now he's been through a week of preparation and then the game.
"It was very valuable," Fields said. "This week's practice compared to last week's practice, I felt just more comfortable at practice just kind of getting that under my belt and getting kind of past that.
"Last week, you really can't get worse than that. I mean, I hope not. But I felt comfortable this week."
The one important issue coming out of Fields' nine sacks last week was his hand injury. It didn't seem to bother him at practice all week.
"He's getting better," Nagy said. "He was getting better every day. He had his hand taped up again, so. I think the biggest thing, especially when you are a quarterback, you need your hand and there is always going to be a little issue there.
"So, him, just probably more than anything is mentally getting used to that."
Well, the hand, and then also playing at a faster speed.
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