It's All About the Work Ethic for Justin Fields

Bears quarterback Justin Fields had no hesitation when asked if he felt ready to get out and play a game as the offseason work entered its final two days at Halas Hall.

"Uh, no," Fields said, to some laughs. "I'm not ready for the season to start. I'm the type of guy that would like to know I'm prepared.

"So, right now, I'm just being honest, we're not ready to play a game right now. And when that time comes, we will be ready, so, right now, no, not ready to play a game."

The Tuesday practice showed this much. The offense struggled getting passes downfield on the first day of mandatory minicamp and Fields threw an interception to Jaylon Johnson on a pass intended for Tajae Sharpe near the sideline.

"I think it went all right of course," Fields said. "Right now, they're throwing a lot at us. They're pretty much throwing the whole playbook at us, which is good right now, but of course there's going to be mistakes but we'd rather have the mistakes come right now than later in the fall or camp so they were just talking about how pretty much right now they're just putting a lot on us which is good.

"So we're learning everything and learning from our mistakes and stuff like that. I think it went well. I mean, of course, it could have went better but that's what tomorrow’s for."

For all the talk about Fields' improvement, both he and the offense will need every single play repetition in a new system under coordinator Luke Getsy to be ready when the time does come.

Fields said a typical day for him now is getting to Halas Hall at 6:45 a.m., leaving later in the afternoon and then returning around 9:30 p.m. to go over the next day's plays. He sends off days at Halas Hall, and so does his favorite target Darnnell Mooney.

Mooney is convinced Fields will get there, based largely on work ethic and the approach being taken toward learningthe offense.

"Just locking in and knowing what he wants to do with this offense, with this team, and him as a quarterback in this league, he wants to take over the league," Mooney said. "He's already Justin Fields. He wants to be the best quarterback in the league.

"He's taken the stride to be there. I got unbelievable faith that he will be there and his success is my success. So as long as he's doing good, I'm doing good, we're all doing good."

It's not just the offense or the desire to be best driving Fields. Mooney is driving him as well.

The two have been working on throws all offseason, on their own away from Halas Hall and also at it, and they figure to do it again during the break before training camp.

They're challenging each other even at weight-lifting sessions as they have taken this beyond a quarterback and his go-to guy.

They're both trying to lead a team that needs leading.

"Yeah, I mean, he honestly makes me want to do more, just seeing how much he works, how hard he works," Fields said of Mooney. "It's kind of contagious.

"So really just getting more guys around us, letting them see how hard we work, I think them (teammates) seeing that will just make them want to work. So it's definitely been good."

Mooney recalled one day two weeks ago when they were throwing on a day off and Fields was on his game at the Payton Center. But the day he thought they took challenging each other to the extreme found them lifting weights.

The challenge: Who was working harder and longer that day. Neither one was willing to leave Halas Hall's weight room.

It sounded like the scene from the movie "Cool Hand Luke," when the prisoners are trying to outwork each other while laying down tar on a country road.

"We have this little competition going on sometimes," Mooney said. "One day, we came in on a Friday. As you know, we do (team work) Monday through Thursday. We came in on a Friday, and we're just lifting and lifting, and he's like, 'Yeah, you can leave now. We're done working out.'

"I'm like: 'I'm not leaving, you're leaving.' And then at one moment, he had left, I'm like, I'm not letting him get this.' He comes back out of nowhere. I'm like, yeah, I'm still working. I end up getting something to lay down to get some soft tissue (work) and then he leaves and he thinks I'm just getting soft tissue. Then I go back and work out and I'm like, 'No, you didn't get me today like you thought.' And then he ended up coming back. So, that type of work ethic and that mindset, it's definitely going to pay off for sure."

Either that, or they're going to drive each other nuts.

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