Former QB Reveals Moment Justin Fields Began To Unlock Bears' Scheme

Robert Griffin III knows what Justin Fields is going through. The former #2 overall pick went into Washington with high expectations. He had great success early as a runner for them, using that to help his inconsistency in the passing game. Then a season-ending injury altered his career. As a result, he tried to become more of a pocket passer, and that only made things worse. He was too focused on playing quarterback rather than playing football. Griffin desperately doesn't want the same to happen to Fields.

Thankfully, he believes the Chicago Bears quarterback figured that out midway through last season. Early on, it was obvious Fields was trying to stay in the pocket as often as possible. It wasn't working. So against New England, the Bears encouraged him to go make plays. He started using his athleticism to create, which became the start of an outstanding stretch of football for the young QB. The problem is Fields' progress as a passer seemed to stagnate. His yardage totals were worst in the NFL, leading to questions about his processing ability to resurface. Griffin saw it differently. He saw a young QB steadily correcting those issues under difficult conditions. This was pointed out to Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic.

Starting with the Patriots game, Griffin saw Fields improve his rhythm, timing and footwork. He saw Fields’ confidence improve, and that helped his technique. Now “he just has to do it more consistently.”

There is an added source of optimism in play.

That is the offense itself. Griffin believes familiarity with the system under Luke Getsy will make life so much easier for Fields. He went into detail on why.

Griffin knows the system Fields is running well. His quarterback coach in Washington was Matt LaFleur, who hired Getsy as the Packers’ QB coach in 2019. The assistant offensive line coach on that 2012 team was Chris Morgan, the current Bears line coach.

The offense is designed to emphasize the running game and make things easier for QBs. When the system is working, there will be around 25 passes per game and Fields will complete 20 of them, Griffin said. There will be 5-10 “gimme” completions.

Justin Fields offered proof of Griffin's claim.

It took him a few months, but the Bears quarterback did play almost an exact replica of what the former quarterback says. He went 20-of-25 against the Green Bay Packers in Week 13. Fields threw for a season-high 254 yards while rushing for another 71 and a touchdown. It was one of his best all-around performances of the year. Chicago racked up over 400 yards of offense. Unfortunately, it was marred by three turnovers, including two Fields interceptions. That is why they only managed 19 points. Yet the evidence was there.

If Justin Fields can replicate that performance without the turnovers this season, the Bears' offense will be hard to stop. Griffin knows this. He saw it work for himself and other quarterbacks many times. Lack of familiarity was the biggest enemy last season. Learning a brand-new offense is complicated. Very complicated. Fields now has a firm grasp of everything. Not only that, but he has more help around him this time, with new blockers up front and a deeper cast of weapons. Fields' gradual mastery of this system could yield big results if they do their jobs.