Chicago Bears

Justin Fields is 'going to be special,' former Bears lineman says

Published Jul. 21, 2022 5:12 p.m. ET

Justin Fields is eyeing a bounce-back season with the Chicago Bears, and with some new faces in the front office, the young quarterback might be able to pull it off.

This season, Fields will be working alongside Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus, who replaced Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy as general manager and head coach, respectively.

Free-agent left tackle Jason Peters, who started 15 games for Chicago last year, recently praised the young QB, saying that Fields undoubtedly has what it takes to succeed in this league once his O-line is set.

"He got hurt right there in the middle of it," Peters said. "He’s going to need his offensive line to block for him, give him some time — because he’s young — to go through his reads. Once he gets older and gets into the groove, because right now he’s going to be like a rookie with the new system pretty much with a new coaching staff, I’m pretty sure they’ve got a whole new system for him, new plays.

"As long as the offensive line gives him some time, he’ll do OK this year. Once he gets that offensive line set, that guy’s going to be special because he can throw, he can run, he can make all the plays he needs to make."

The 23-year-old Fields, who Chicago traded up to select at No. 11 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, had some bright spots through a mostly tumultuous rookie season.

In his 12 appearances with 10 starts, Fields completed 58.9% of his passes (159-for-270) for 1,870 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Fields, who has said he "wants to take over" the league, went 2-8 as a starter. He was sacked a stunning nine times in his first start in Week 3. He also fumbled 12 times, losing five of them.

The Bears haven't had a winning season since 2018 — only their second season above .500 in the past 10 years — but that could change this season with the addition of new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko to help guide Fields in his sophomore season.