3 things we learned from the Chicago Bears, including the record age gap between Tom Brady and Justin Fields and Jaylon Johnson’s beef with a team fine

The Chicago Bears continued preparations Wednesday for their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Here are three things we learned from coach Matt Nagy and his players.

1. Justin Fields said he can learn from watching how Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady operate in back-to-back weeks.

Fields has said he is more concerned with the Bears winning than with how his statistics measure up this early in his career against opposing quarterbacks, especially future Hall of Famers.

But he did take note of how Rodgers operated in the Packers’ 24-14 victory and took away lessons on how to stack together positive plays for touchdown drives and how to avoid letting a bad play make things worse.

“That’s one big difference I’m starting to find out is you’ve got to put drives together rather than just have a good play here, have a good play there,” Fields said. “Because if you have a bad play in college, it’s easy to get that yardage you just lost the next play, where in the NFL, it’s not as easy. So just putting good plays together back to back and creating more drives that create more momentum and get us more in a rhythm.”

Fields will focus on improving his own play Sunday against the Buccaneers after the Bears reached the end zone only twice in Week 6, but perhaps he can take a note or two from Brady too.

When the Bears play the Buccaneers, it will mark the largest age gap between starting quarterbacks in NFL history, according to Pro Football Talk. Brady turned 44 in August, and Fields turned 22 in March. The record was set in Week 4 by Brady and New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, who is 23.

Given that Fields was a toddler when Brady began his NFL career, Fields was asked how his appreciation has evolved for the seven-time Super Bowl champ.

“Just seeing him play without anything left to prove just shows how much he loves the game,” Fields said. “Of course he’s a great quarterback that will go down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.”

2. Jaylon Johnson posted a fine notice he received from the Bears to Instagram.

According to a photo of the notice, which was on Johnson’s Instagram story before being taken down, the Bears fined the second-year cornerback $2,745 for an unexcused late arrival to Halas Hall on Tuesday. The notice had Nagy’s signature on it.

“This shii crazy bruh,” Johnson wrote. “Walked in as it turned 8:16 and they tax me like this.”

Nagy wasn’t aware of the post when he got to his morning news conference but said he would talk to Johnson about it.

“I’ll be able to talk to him and see what that’s all about,” Nagy said. “But Jaylon’s been doing great.”

3. The Bears were missing three major pieces of their defense at practice.

Outside linebacker Khalil Mack (foot) and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (groin) missed practice with injuries, as they did most of last week before playing Sunday.

Outside linebacker Robert Quinn also remained out after testing positive for COVID-19. Nagy wouldn’t say whether Quinn might be available to play Sunday, which could be the case if Quinn is vaccinated and returns two negative tests within 24 hours.

Quinn was the Bears’ third positive test in a week, along with running back Damien Williams and wide receivers coach Mike Furrey. Nagy said the Bears aren’t enacting enhanced protocols and instead are following their regular rules, which include stricter regulations for unvaccinated players.

“We’re making sure that we’re doing everything we need to do, and I think our guys are doing a really good job with that,” Nagy said. “So nothing has changed there.”

Also missing practice were wide receivers Allen Robinson (ankle) and Jakeem Grant (ankle), tight end Jimmy Graham (veteran rest) and inside linebacker Caleb Johnson (knee).

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