LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ primary job is to diagnose opposing quarterbacks’ weaknesses, find ways to exploit them, and ultimately defeat them.
Williams doesn’t claim to be a “quarterback guru.” A focus of his work, however, is understanding the tiny differences that create the huge gap between the haves and have-nots of NFL quarterbacks. As such, Williams is uniquely qualified to discuss and analyze the things that will have the greatest impact on the Bears’ 2023 season and the future of general manager Ryan Poles’ rebuild.
The Maturation and Improvement of Quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields spent the entire offseason fine-tuning his mechanics and footwork. The 24-year-old quarterback studied movies about quarterbacks with similar characteristics who play to the same wide-zone-based scheme. Fields knows he needs to improve his accuracy on short throws and improve his overall rhythm and timing.
Just a week into the OTAs, Williams noticed a difference from the other side of the field.
“A couple of things,” Williams said Wednesday at Halas Hall when asked about Fields’ growth. “Guide. Because that’s what you want from your quarterback. I see good decision making. That’s what you want from your quarterback. I see improved accuracy. That’s what you want from your quarterback. And how quickly he processed. That’s also, I think, what you want from your quarterback. So from day one last year to now? From my point of view, and I’m not a quarterback guru at all, but I can see how he’s progressed from last year to last year, and exercise after exercise after exercise, he’s growing. So you have to be encouraged when you see these things.”
This is not a crucial season for Fields. But it’s an election campaign about whether you’re in the hot seat. If Fields doesn’t make the leap as a passer, the Bears will have two decisions to make: Do they exercise Fields’ option to a fifth year? Will they bring competition next fall?
Unless Fields regresses this fall, it should be a given for the Bears to exercise the fifth-year option. It gives them control of a young quarterback for an extra season at a cost-effective price. If they refuse, they risk Fields ending his career in 2024 and forcing them to give him an expensive extension a year before the planned raise.
While the 2023 season will have a huge impact on the future of Fields and the Bears, the offensive brain trust at Halas Hall is focused on the small details that make meaningful changes. You zoom in instead of taking the 1,000 foot view.
“I think he’s just progressing in that system and as a quarterback in general he can improve his accuracy in a lot of different ways just by improving his footwork,” quarterback coach Andrew Janocko told NBC Sports Chicago. “He is, but pretty much every quarterback in the league is. You see the guys that have that footwork, that pace, that rhythm, every year they lead the league in passing and they’re the guys with the highest completion rate.”
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The 2022 season left the Bears with hope and big questions about their young quarterback.
Despite finding himself in a tight spot behind a poor offensive line and with limited weapons, Fields found a way to thrive as one of the most dynamic ball carriers in the NFL. He bounced back from a terrible start and wrote a decent second season.
But while he rocked the world for four midseason games, he was inconsistent as a passer. Fields frequently missed open receivers or refused to pull the trigger on shots when a receiver broke open. That’s partly a product of a leaky offensive line that had Fields running for his life from day one. Fields was often under the immediate pressure, and even when it wasn’t he would try to release the pressure prematurely and run to anticipate the pressure to come.
Despite clear weaknesses in his development as a passer, the Bears experienced an upswing. The folks at Halas Hall are pleased with Fields’ improvement and believe this fall will be a leap.
There is no other possibility.
“We have to take a step forward,” said Janocko. “That has to be a strength in our game.” That has to be a strength to help this team win games. Eventually we’ll start quantifying this, but for now we’re just aiming for significant improvement as we build Phase 2 into the building blocks of OTAs over the summer to make this a focus of this offensive.”
Fields is aware he will be under the microscope this season. He knows the 17 games from September to January will have a big impact on his future. A big season means the Bears have the opportunity to give Fields a generous contract extension the second the season ends. But a flop means Fields’ career clock is ticking faster than ever and 2024 may well be his last outing.
But the big picture will fall into place as long as Fields takes care of the little things.
“I’m not worried about contracts, I’m worried about wins. I don’t care,” Fields said after the Bears’ second OTA practice at Halas Hall.
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