In an interview with Laurence Holmes on NBC Sports Chicago, former MVP quarterback Cam Newton and former Bears receiver Brandon Marshall suggested Chicago isn’t building a system that helps Fields be the best version of himself.
“This kid has it,” Marshall said of Fields on Football Night in Chicago. “He can do everything. Magical. Hopefully they figure it out because he is special. I love Justin Fields.”
“When are we going to start holding coaches accountable for them potentially being the issue?” Newton added. “It’s so hard for players to hold franchise people accountable for certain things. It’s okay for a player to say, ‘Coach, this is a little too complex for me.’ When you go public and you speak your mind, that’s when you’re labeled something that you’re not…he is good enough to be a dynamic player in this league.”
Newton is, of course, referring to Fields’ earlier comments before the Kansas City Chiefs game in Week 3 about “coaching” disrupting his rhythm as a player and causing him to play “robotic,” in his words. Fields subsequently walked those comments back at his locker later that day.
Since that Week 3 game, Fields has played markedly better, completing 68.6 percent of his passes for 1,061 yards, nine touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 108.5. However, he’s also fumbled the ball three times in the last two weeks – all of which were or could have been back-breaking.
Fields has been at his best when on the move as a thrower or when able to deliver strikes down the field as he did against the Detroit Lions in Week 11 and against the Washington Commanders in Week 5. He owns the seventh-highest deep passing (20+ yards) grade in the NFL as well as the third-highest passer rating on such throws, according to Pro Football Focus (minimum 10 attempts). Interestingly, he also has the third-best grade and sixth-best passer rating on short throws (between 0-10 yards; minimum 43 attempts).
He is not, however, particularly successful throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage. On those throws, his PFF grade is seventh-worst and his passer rating is 10th lowest in the NFL (minimum 17 attempts).
Guess what kind of throw he makes at the ninth-highest rate in the league? The ones he’s worse at.
