Time for Justin Fields to Slide

Justin Fields remembers it well.

It's hard to forget your first NFL start, especially when it was the day you got sacked nine times, including half of those by Myles Garrett.

"Just being back in Ohio, first start, everybody excited, and then of course getting sacked, too," said Fields, the former Ohio State quarterback. "Hopefully we can change that going back this weekend."

Fields returns to the scene of the crime Sunday, so to speak.

After all the hits he's been taking lately, legal and otherwise, being sacked so many times when Matt Nagy's offensive game plan left him little protection against blitzes beyond five linemen isn't necessarily a memory he should cherish.

The Bears lost 26-6 and he completed six passes for 68 yards but says he has learned a great deal since then.

"I mean, you can go on and on, I've learned a lot of stuff," he said. "That was, what, two years ago. A lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. First start in the NFL to now, I've definitely learned a lot."

One thing is to slide fast when he's scrambling but it apparently hasn't been fast enough for NFL officials. Teammate Jaquan Brisker this week complained about the late hits on slides Fields is taking, plays which go unpenalized. Fields can't really agree with Brisker's statement about such hits being planned by opponents but knows Brisker meant well.

"I don't know what other teams are saying or what other coaches are saying to their teams, so I don't have a comment on that," Fields said. "Maybe Jaquan knows something I don't."

Fields summed it up a little more succinctly than Brisker.

"It's just kind of frustrating, but not really astonishing because it happens a lot," he said.,

It happened against the Browns although not in his first start. It happened in a 2022 preseasson game of all things when Browns linebacker Jacob Phillips hit him high while sliding. The penalty got called on that one.

Detroit's Jack Campbell got away with one in the eyes of the Bears with a late, high hit on a sliding Fields last week.

"I just know—especially when we play the Lions—I know how they play," Fields said. "I know what kind of team they are. So I know that they're going to play hard and play until the end of the play.

"I always tell (officials) that I'm not trying to take any hits. I get down pretty fast. Just look out for me if they see any late hits. I'm going to try to get down. I'm not going to try to do anything sneaky like any fake slides or whatever. So, yeah, that's pretty much it."

Fields says he talks to the officials before games regularly.

"I talk to them before every game, literally talk to the ref before every game," he said. "It happened on the first play of the (Detroit) game and didn't get the call. I really can't do anything about it, so get up and move on to the next play."

During the game, there's not much time to complain. Teammates like Brisker do it for him.

"I mean, no, after it happens, I don't really have time to ask them why didn't I get the call," Fields said. "I just move on to the next play, get the play called in and move on."

Coach Matt Eberflus said Monday he turns in plays to the league they think are outside the rules and will continue.

"You turn in the plays that you think–really, it's for educating both sides to see what we see and to see what they see at the end of the day. And I’m talking about officials. But again, some of that's hard at times because he is on the perimeter running but we feel when he declares himself down, that he should be down. There should be no hit to the head or to the shoulder area.

"That's all you can do, really, and then just visit before the game. Visit before the game, visit during the game and keep stressing it to them."

If all of that seems the same, Eberflus says there are things different about Fields in recent games, and definitely since the last time he was in Cleveland.

"The pocket presence is better," Eberflus said. "The rhythm and timing is better. Him being able to, once he starts to create–before he exits–to look down the field. That's been really good.

"Taking care of the football, in terms of interceptions, that's been good as of late. A perfect game for a quarterback, like I said, is zero turnovers. That gives us a chance to win the game. Just continuing to do that."

Fields hasn't thrown an interception since returning three games ago from his dislocated thumb. The numbers certify his improvement here.

The game film does this with his ability to get out of the pocket quickly.

"It's just kind of a feel thing to be honest with you," Fields said. "Like, kind of having that mental clock and listening to your feet. You know, of course you've got to trust your O-line and you've got to trust everybody that's on the field but yeah, just that mental clock in your head and kind of just the feel in the pocket. I think that's what it is."

And then get down as fast as he can once he's out of the pocket, especially this week with Myles Garrett and Co. in pursuit.

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